Whatever it Takes
by Abandoned.See new ZefronsAngel
Summary: Troy and Gabriella, who are both on the road to being celebrities, meet each other and start dating. But with all the complications of a famous life, will Troyella survive? Will Troy and Gabriella do whatever it takes to be together? TROYELLA!
1. Leaving for California

Nineteen-year-old Gabriella Montez closed her eyes and thought back to when she was a little girl in kindergarten. The day she had sung for her parents in the living room. The day when it had all began.

_Flashback_

_Gabriella ran up to her parents with a smile on her face. "Mommy, Daddy, I just made up a song! Do you wanna hear it?" _

_David and Maria, Gabriella's father and mother, both looked at their daughter and nodded. They were happy that she had done something creative like writing a song. Their eight-year-old daughter, Jenna, had never shown any interest in things that didn't involve a screen. The TV, the computer, handheld video games-all those things were, to her, the only way of having fun._

_Gabriella opened her mouth and began to sing simple words to a tune that was being made up as she went along. In about a minute, she finished her performance with a proud smile. "How was it?" she wanted to know._

_David and Maria both clapped._

_"That was pretty, honey," Maria commented._

_"Great job!" David exclaimed. "Daddy's proud of you."_

_At that moment, Jenna stomped into the living room, an angry expression on her face. "Gabriella's making too much noise out here! It's disturbing me! I almost got to level ten of my Nintendo DS game, and she made me fail!"_

_"Jenna, it wasn't her fault," Maria told her oldest daughter. "She was just singing."_

_"Yes it was her fault!" Jenna slapped Gabriella's arm._

_Gabriella began to cry. _

_"Jenna, that wasn't nice at all," Maria scolded. "Now go to your room, sit on your bed, and stay there. And also, no TV for the rest of the day."_

_As she watched Jenna walk away angrily, little Gabriella-with tears still in her eyes-announced, "When I grow up, I'm gonna be the best singer ever. And you'll miss all my good songs because you'll be too busy watching TV."_

_End of flashback_

Gabriella then allowed her mind to wander to three years from that time, when she had done her first singing performance in front of a large audience. It was during the talent show her school was having; she was in third grade, standing up at the microphone dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. Not the typical attire for a singer, but good enough for a eight-year-old.

_Flashback_

_Gabriella finished singing the last note of her song. The whole time she had been on stage, the audience had let out 'aws' and occasional cheers. Now that she was finished, they clapped loudly. Her parents even gave her a standing ovation! And then there was glum Jenna, now eleven years old, who sat in her chair with her arms across her chest, pouting because she was missing the new episode of her favorite TV show._

_End of flashback_

That first performance was a greatly treasured memory to Gabriella. She been so excited when people had shown they liked her singing. She now, smiling from the two memories she had just been thinking of, brought herself to remember her high school senior year performance on graduation night. Three students had signed up to sing before the graduation ceremony had started, and she had been one of them.

_Flashback_

_Gabriella stepped onto stage dressed in a midnight blue dress that came to her knees and black sandals. Her almost-black curls were piled up in an up-do, and her makeup was heavy enough so that the bright stage lights couldn't make her face look pale. As she made her way to the center of the stage, people began clapping and cheering. They all knew who she was from past years when she had sang at different high school events. And they had all grown to love her performances. _

_"Good evening, everyone," Gabriella said into the microphone that she held in her hand. "Tonight I'm going to sing a song for you all. I hope you enjoy it." She then proceeded to begin her singing. _

_Everyone in the audience clapped and cheered as Gabriella sung the last note. Everyone except twenty one-year old Jenna, who hadn't grown out of her rude and lazy ways. She was still a TV, computer, and video game addict; she wasn't even going to college at the time. Just living at the Montez house causing problems. _

_While Gabriella walked off the stage, she smiled to herself. She was graduating that night. The performance she had just given might have been the last one for high school performances, but she wasn't finished with her singing yet. In fact, she was far from it. And the same thought as when she was in kindergarten passed through her mind. She was going to be the best singer ever._

_End of flashback_

Gabriella now forced herself back to the present time and shoved another shirt in the suitcase that was in front of her. She was getting ready to leave her Georgia home to go to California for two weeks, record a demo album, and talk with some people about getting a singing career started. That thought made her smile, made her body fill with energy-it made her want to sing as loud as she possibly could.

"How are you doing with your packing?" Maria wondered as she walked through the open door of her daughter's bedroom. "Do you need any help?"

Gabriella turned to look at her mother and, with a smile, replied, "No thanks, Mom. I'm fine with it. I think I'm just about finished anyway."

"I'm glad you're getting to follow your dream, but you do know that your father and I are going to miss you during the time you're gone."

Gabriella nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I'm gonna miss you guys, too." Gabriella was really shy-which was surprising since she had sung on stage a number of times-so she wasn't good at making friends. In fact, she had only ever had one friend in her life, and that was when she was little. Because of her lack of friends, she was very close to both her parents. She talked about things with them very often and went shopping with Maria quite a lot.

"Hey, Mom, the TV isn't working," Jenna, who, despite the fact it was the middle of the day, was dressed in pajama pants, a tank top, and slippers, complained as she hurried into Gabriella's room. "You need to go have a look at it." While she spoke, she took the ponytail holder that was on her wrist off and began to put her long, stick straight blonde hair in a messy ponytail.

"Well you're gonna have to wait a minute," Maria told her oldest daughter. "I'm spending some time with Gabby before she has to leave."

Jenna rolled her brown eyes. "Whatever. I'll just get Dad to fix it for me. I don't know why you just can't do it, though. The over-obsessed singer girl can wait. I can't. My favorite show is on now."

"She's not just 'some girl,'" Maria reminded Jenna. "She's your sister."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well she's a horrible one. When has she ever driven me anywhere I wanted to go when my car broke and I couldn't drive anywhere myself? Never. When has she ever brought me a snack while I was watching a movie? Never. All she does is sit in her room and make unbearable noise. And on top of that she's ugly. No one likes dark hair; all the guys want blondes."

"Excuse me, Jenna," Gabriella interrupted, an unusually harsh edge to her voice "But may I point out that you're a fake blonde, and, more importantly, single."

"Whoa, calm down. I _had_ a boyfriend-in middle school."

"Jenna, why don't you go take a drive or something?" Maria suggested.

"My car's out of gas. And I don't have money to get the tank filled again. So I can't."

"Well then how about you go mop the kitchen floor for me? It's about time you did some work around the house."

"I think I said just a minute ago that I'm asking Dad to fix the TV. Anyway, I shouldn't have to mop the floor. What do I look like, a maid?" Jenna's lip curled up in disgust. With that, she walked out of the room.

"Do you want me to mop before I have to go?" Gabriella questioned. "I would be happy to."

"Oh, that's nice of you to offer, but I'm gonna have to say 'no.' You've been doing enough chores around here lately, which I'm grateful for since you've been really busy getting ready for your trip," Maria answered.

"Are you sure?"

Maria nodded. "I'm positive."

Gabriella glanced over at the clock that stood on her end table, which was located right beside her bed. "Oh, it's this late already? I've gotta get to the airport!" She then grabbed her suitcase with one hand, and with the other, her purse. After that, she proceeded to make her way downstairs and into the living room, Maria following.

"Are you leaving, Gabby?" David, who was sitting on the sofa reading a book, said as he saw his daughter.

"Yeah. I've got to get to the airport before I miss my flight," Gabriella responded.

David laid aside his book and went up to Gabriella. "Bye. I hope you have a good time in California. Don't forget to call home," he spoke, hugging her.

Gabriella allowed the things she was carrying to rest on the ground while she hugged her father in return. "Bye, Dad. And don't worry; I'll call every day."

Next, Maria embraced Gabriella. "Bye. Have fun."

"Bye, Mom."

* * *

Troy Bolton shot his basketball through the hoop for about the hundredth time. He was determined to become the best basketball player ever, and getting to that status meant practicing things for hours on end in the gym, putting up with sweat running down his face, and having calloused hands from constantly catching a ball.

"Hey, Troy, you ready for a break?" Jack, Troy's father, wanted to know as he entered the gym his son was currently in. "There's some pizza back at our suite." Troy's parents had dragged Troy, although he was an adult, along with them to Georgia for their annual vacation. They had a suite in the hotel they were staying at.

"Sure," Troy panted as he jogged over to the bench that was against the wall, where he grabbed his water bottle and began to take a long drink.

"Alright, great. See you there in a few minutes, then."

While Troy started walking out of the gym, he thought about basketball. He thought about when it had first become part of his life. And that was when he was four.

_Flashback_

_Troy walked up to his father, who was in the backyard playing basketball. "What are you doing?" he asked him curiously._

_"Playing basketball," Jack answered. _

_"Oh. Can I play, too?"_

_"I don't know how well you'll be able to do it, but you can try." Jack handed the basketball to his son. "Just try to get it in the hoop."_

_Troy threw the ball. It didn't make it in the hoop, but it did get pretty close to it. "I almost did it! I almost did it! Daddy, I almost did it! Did you see?"_

_Jack nodded. "Yeah, great work." He gave his son a high-five. _

_"You know, when I grow up, I think I want to do this for my job. It'll be the best job in the world."_

_End of flashback_

Troy then let himself remember how he felt when he was sixteen, and training to go professional in the sport he loved for the first time.

_Flashback_

_Troy ran up to the basket and tossed the basketball smoothly through the hoop. _

_"Great job, Troy!" Coach Williams, the coach, called out. "Keep up the good work!"_

_Troy smiled as he grabbed the basketball and began dribbling it. After a few seconds, he passed it to another boy who was waiting for his turn to try shooting and dribbling._

_"Nice pass!" Coach Williams complimented._

_Troy smiled again. This was great! The coach thought he was good! Maybe that meant he had a big chance of becoming a professional basketball player!_

_End of flashback_

Troy rushed into his family's suite and grabbed a slice of pizza out of the pizza box that was in the very small kitchen. After that, he went into the living room and put a basketball game on the TV.

"Troy, I have some great news for you!" Lucille, Troy's mother, exclaimed as she rushed over to her son. "Your father just received a call from home. The Lakers basketball team want you to go back to California immediately to train with them for a month!"

Troy, allowing his slice of pizza to fall onto the floor, jumped up and shouted, "Yes! Yes!"

"Troy, your pizza-" Lucille groaned as she thought of the large stain that was most likely ending up on the carpet that very minute.

"I'm going! I'm going! I'm going to train with the Lakers!"

"I know you're excited. Now your flight leaves in just two hours. Start packing up. After you pick your pizza up off the floor, that is," Lucille told Troy.

Troy did as his mother instructed. The Lakers! He was going to train with them! He smiled as he thought to himself, _This is the best day ever._

* * *

**Hey! This is my new story. Sorry this chapter was short and uneventful, but there will be **_**tons**_** of drama and romance later. And just to warn you, this is **_**not**_** an immediate Troyella story, meaning they won't get together super soon. And also, other chapters will be longer than this one. This is sort of just the prologue. So if you think this is boring, **_**please**_** don't give up on this story:) **

**Oh, and I have another thing. I might not update this story too much until I'm done with **_**Two and a Half Weeks,**_** just because I'm too busy to quickly update three stories. But I check my story stats all the time, and if I see I get a lot of hits on this chapter, I might think about more updates. Review if you want. If you don't, I'll be able to tell if you read it or not because I look at my story stats **_**all**_** the time:) So don't feel like you need to review. **


	2. Meeting Each Other

Gabriella boarded the plane she was to fly to California on. After choosing a seat and placing the one bag she was allowed to keep with her beneath the seat in front of her, reached into her purse and pulled out the book she was currently reading. Opening it to the spot where she had last left off, she began to scan the words that were written on thr pages.

"Excuse me; can I sit here?"

Gabriella looked up from her book. Her brown eyes met the bright blue eyes of a young man that looked about the same age as her. _Wow, those eyes sure are handsome_, she thought dreamily to herself. Then, pulling herself back into the real world, she glanced at the empty seat beside her. "Sure," she smiled.

The boy sat down. "So," he began.

Gabriella shyly turned her face away from the newcomer and busied herself with her book again.

"Don't you think we should introduce ourselves? After all, we're gonna be sitting here for the whole flight."

Gabriella cautiously allowed herself to bring her gaze to the young man. "Y-Yeah," she stammered. "I-I guess we should." A small smile appeared on her lips.

"Okay, then. I'll go first. My name is Troy Bolton." Troy held out his hand for Gabriella to shake.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Gabriella Montez." Gabriella took Troy's hand and shook it briefly.

An awkward silence followed Gabriella's words.

"Alright, well....." Troy attempted to continue the conversation, but failed. He wasn't good with girls. That's one reason why he never dated before. The other was that he was just way too busy with basketball.

Gabriella nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Fasten your seatbelts, everyone. We'll be taking off in one minute," came a woman's voice over the speaker that was on the wall.

Troy and Gabriella both made sure their seatbelts were securely on.

"Well...." Troy made another attempt to speak.

"You want something?" Gabriella wondered shyly.

"I just thought we could talk a little."

"Okay, the plane will be leaving the ground in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" announced the woman who was talking over the speaker. As soon as she finished saying what she needed to, the plane rose up into the clear blue sky.

"So, Gabrielle, I hope I'm not being too personal, but how old are you?"

"I-It's Gabriella, not Gabrielle," Gabriella managed to tell Troy. "And I'm nineteen."

"I'm sorry, Gabriella," Troy apologized. "Oh, and by the way, I'm twenty. So we're only a year apart." He smiled, then started talking again. "How about college? Are you going anywhere at the moment?"

Gabriella shook her head. "I'm just working on my singing for now."

"I'm not going to college at the time, either. I'm working on becoming a basketball player." Troy then, after a few seconds' pause, remembered what Gabriella had just said to him. "You sing? That's awesome."

"I guess so," Gabriella agreed casually with a shrug.

"Where do you live?"

"Georgia. How about you?" With every word she spoke, Gabriella began to get more and more comfortable chatting with Troy.

"California. I'm actually going back home right now-to train with the Lakers basketball team. Why are you going to my state? Do you have relatives there or something?"

"I'm sure you'll be good at your basketball thing! And in response to your question for me-no. I'm going to a recording studio to record a demo album." Gabriella began to mindlessly pick the pale pink already-chipping nail polish that was on her fingernails off. She felt ashamed to say the words she had just spoken because to her it sort of felt like she was bragging.

"A demo album? Are you serious? That's amazing! If you ever release a regular album, I'll definitely buy it. I'm curious to know what your voice sounds like-even though I'm sure it's good."

"I don't think I'm that good."

"Don't say that. So, do you write your own music and lyrics and everything or do you have someone do that stuff for you?"

"I do it all myself. I play guitar and piano, so I make up the tune using those things, then I just think of lyrics that would fit the tune and write them in a notebook."

"What are your songs about?"

"Relationships, finding friends, being ignored," Gabriella replied as she twisted her hair nervously. She didn't like discussing what her songs were about since they were all based on her own life, and she was generally a private person.

"They sound good. Do you have a boyfriend?"

Gabriella's cheeks turned a deep red. "N-No," she forced herself to say.

Troy didn't miss Gabriella's blush. "It's okay. I don't have a girlfriend, either. What about friends?"

Gabriella shook her head. "None," she mumbled.

"I wonder why? You seem like a nice girl. I just have one friend. His name is Chad. But you sound like you're really lonely. Do you have siblings you can hang out with?"

"Well I have one sister-she's twenty-two-but she's not really my biggest fan."

"How about your parents?"

"They're the people I'm closest to. I almost treat them like friends; that is, adding the high respect of course."

"That's cool. I'm not really in a great relationship with my parents. I mean, I get along with them okay, but I don't care for doing activities and such with them. I'd rather play basketball."

"What position do you play on your team?"

"I'm not in a team right now, but when I was in high school I played center."

"Center? Wow, that's really nice!"

"Yeah, I guess it is."

* * *

"Bye, Gabriella," Troy said as he grabbed his luggage at the luggage area in the airport. The plane had landed just five minutes before, forcing the many conversations that has passed between Troy and Gabriella along the way to California to come to an end.

"Bye, Troy," Gabriella returned, also taking her luggage. She then walked in the opposite direction of Troy.

_Wow, she was an amazing girl,_ Troy thought to himself. _Too bad I probably won't get to see her again; California isn't a small place. _

_Troy was nice,_ Gabriella silently commented. _I wish I could see him again. But probably not. I mean, what are the chances that we'll meet up again? I don't even know if the hotel I'm staying at is anywhere near his house. And even if it is....what are the chances that we'll end up in the same place at the same time?_

* * *

Troy pulled the keys to his house from his pocket and unlocked the front door. Since he had become an adult, his parents had gotten a second house key made for him to keep until he found a place of his own-which he was currently working on. Upon stepping inside, he flipped a couple light switches, then made his way over to the kitchen to get a snack.

_I wish I gave Gabriella my number. I wish I could talk to her again. I wish I could see her act all shy. I wonder....I wonder if there's a way I could sort of find out what recording studio she's going to and, also, what hotel she's staying at?_ All these thoughts passed through Troy's mind as he ate. By the time he finished eating, he had his mind made up. He went over to the place where the phone book was kept and opened it. Paging through, he made sure to catch notice of all the local hotels-and the two recording studios. Then, pulling his cell phone out of his pants pocket, where he always kept it when he had it with him, dialed the number to one of the hotels.

* * *

Half an hour passed. Finally, after fifteen phone calls, Troy found out where Gabriella was staying. And lucky for him, she hadn't asked for her room number to be kept private from the public.

_I'm gonna go see her,_ Troy decided.

* * *

Gabriella had just finished getting into her pajamas and was now ready to get comfortable in her hotel bed and work on writing some lyrics for a couple hours before she got tired and wanted to go to sleep.

_Knock, knock._

_Who could that be?_ Gabriella wondered in her head. She slowly walked over to the door to her room and called through it, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Troy," Troy answered in reply.

_Troy? What's he doing here? How did he find me? I didn't even tell him anything about where I was saying during our plane ride!_ Gabriella was totally confused-and a bit hesitant to open the door since she didn't think she looked decent enough to see people she didn't know that well. "Hold on a minute," Gabriella decided. She hurriedly grabbed the fitted t-shirt and white capri pants she had been wearing only a few minutes before, threw off her pajamas, and got dressed again. Next, she took the ponytail holder she had tied her hair back with out and swiftly ran her comb through the curls that now flowed over her shoulders. Finally, after taking a brief look in the mirror that was on the wall, she let Troy into her room. "Sorry I made you wait out in the hall," she apologized.

"It's alright," Troy responded.

"So, I have some questions for you. How did you find me? Why are you here?"

"I found you by calling a bunch of local hotels and asking if there was a girl named Gabriella Montez at any of them. And I'm here because I was lonely all alone at home, Chad's not home from his college for the summer yet, and I wanted to hang out with someone."

"Well, you're welcome here. I was just about to write some lyrics, but that can wait. Just have a seat on my bed and relax."

Troy listened to Gabriella, who followed him over to the bed and took a seat beside him. "Do you start recording your demo album tomorrow?" he wondered.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah. How about your basketball training? Does that start tomorrow, too?"

"Yes. I have to get up early to make it to the Lakers' stadium."

"I don't really care for getting up early."

"Me, neither."

Gabriella didn't know what to say next. As a result of that, a period of silence came over the room. That is, until Gabriella's cell phone rang. When that happened, Gabriella reached over to grab it from where it was. Looking at the screen, she muttered, "I got a text from my sister."

"I thought your sister didn't care for you?" Troy was confused.

Gabriella read the text:

_How do the recording studio ppl like the noise u call ur music? _

Troy saw the look of hurt that came across his new friend's face. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Gabriella mumbled, pressing a button that deleted the text. "My sister's just being her unsupportive self. It's not anything to worry about."

"Are you sure?"

Gabriella nodded.

* * *

Almost two and a half hours passed in which Troy and Gabriella talked about their high school lives, things they did with their families, and anything else that they felt like discussing.

"I'd better go," Troy announced as he looked at the clock that was on the end table next to the bed. "It's getting late."

Gabriella nodded in understanding. "Yeah, it is; I'd better get ready and go to sleep. Well, after you leave."

"Can I have your number?" Troy requested, taking his cell phone from his pocket.

"Sure," Gabriella answered. She then proceeded to tell Troy the number to her cell phone. "What about yours? Can I have your number, too?"

Troy nodded and gave Gabriella his phone number. Once she typed it into her cell phone, he said, "Alright; well now that we have each others' numbers, I'd better get going. I'll call you when I get a chance and see if we can find a time to hang out."

"Okay. But just so you know, I'm leaving here in two weeks."

"Two weeks? I don't know if I'll be free anytime within the next two weeks."

"I guess we can just talk to each other through the phone, then."

"I guess that's what we'll have to do. Well, I really should be heading out. I know I've said that twice already, but this time I mean it. _Maybe_ I'll see you again."

"I hope so. I had a very good time with you; I'm glad you found where I was staying."

"I had a good time, too." Troy smiled at Gabriella. "Bye."

"Bye." Gabriella smiled in return.

* * *

Troy rolled around in his bed for about the twentieth time. He couldn't get Gabriella out of his head. And it was unlikely that he would ever see her again, even though he had her number. Soon she would be too busy with singing to travel to places she didn't need to be. So would he for a matter of fact. Except for he would be occupied with basketball-not singing. But he felt like he _had_ to see her again. Ever since his eyes had first met hers on the plane, that was it. He could think about nothing else but her.

_I've got to see her again,_ Troy told himself. _I've just got to. _

* * *

Gabriella turned all the lights out in her hotel room and tried to fall asleep. The only problem was that she couldn't. She was too distracted by thoughts of Troy. In less than twenty-four hours, he had become her only friend. The thought that she might never meet up with him again saddened her. Talking on the phone would be decent, but she would rather see him in person. That way, they could go places together, witness what emotions came across each other's faces, and just hang out while watching TV or something of the sort.

_Gabriella Bolton,_ Gabriella considered. _That sounds so perfect. If only it could really happen. But I know it can't. I'm not even gonna be able to see Troy again-most likely, anyway._

* * *

**A lot of people started reading this, and I had tons of inspiration for it, so I thought I would write chapter 2:) Don't worry, I'll still pay lots of attention to my other stories.**


	3. Singing and Basketball Work

Gabriella walked through the doors of Los Angeles Recording Studio just two minutes before she was expected there. At first, she had feared she was going to be late due to the big traffic jams that were on the streets of people trying to get to work, go out to breakfast, or visit one of the attractions around the area.

"Good morning," greeted a cheerful-looking middle-aged man who was sitting behind a desk.

"Good morning," Gabriella returned. "I'm Gabriella Montez, and I'm here to discuss plans for a singing career and record a demo album."

"Yes, you were expected here today. Now I'm going to ask you to come over to my desk and fill out a couple papers, and then I'll take you to Keith's office-Keith is the one you'll need to talk to about career plans."

"Okay." Gabriella made her way over to the desk and, as quickly as she could, filled out the required paperwork.

"Alright," the man behind the desk spoke, "Let me take you to see Keith now."

Gabriella followed the man through a narrow hallway until he stopped at a door and knocked on it. A 'come in' was heard from the other side, so he turned the doorknob. "Gabriella Montez is here," he announced.

"Great! I'll get started talking to her right now."

"You can go in," the man told Gabriella.

Gabriella entered the small room that only contained a desk, two chairs, and tons of CDs, which were hanging all over the teal-colored walls.

"Have a seat," Keith invited.

Gabriella sat down in the chair that was in front of the desk.

"So, I understand you want to become a professional singer, correct?"

Gabriella nodded.

"Well, I'm just going to talk you through some important things. First of all, you're going to need an agent. Your agent will try to get your popularity level high and make attempts to get you to sing at different events that will cause people to recognize you as a singer."

"How do I get an agent?" Gabriella wanted to know.

"Well, I have papers describing a bunch of them. I'll let you look through them right now." Keith opened a drawer that was at the side of his desk and pulled out a large envelope that was thickened with a stack of papers.

Gabriella took the envelope, opened it, and started to look at the first paper she saw. It described a man of thirty with one year's experience with the job. After reading the bio that was printed about him, Gabriella turned to the next page.

* * *

"I'm finished," Gabriella said forty-five minutes later.

"Did you see anyone that you would like to be your agent?"

"Yes; I did." Gabriella grabbed the paper she had left out of the stack of the rest. "I think I'm interested in this one."

She handed the paper to Keith.

Keith looked over the bio of Gabriella's selected agent. "Chris might not be the best choice," he commented after he finished reading. "Yes, he's had ten years' experience, but he's also just lost his job for the second time. You need to be careful of people like this; it's better to choose an agent that has no past connections with any other singers that they might still favor."

"Okay." Gabriella nodded in understanding. She had been looking for the agent with the most experience, but obviously hadn't made a good decision.

* * *

Troy shot the basketball through the hoop one last time. The first training exercise of the day had been to do ten jump shots. Troy got the ball in the net nine out of his ten tries, which was pretty good.

"Great work, Bolton," complimented the Lakers' coach, Will Redhurst.

Troy couldn't help feeling a bit proud of himself as he walked over to the bench to sit down and rest while the other young men that were there took their turns with jump shots. Once they all had finished, Troy got up and walked to the middle of the gym.

"Alright. Now we're gonna practice passing," Coach Redhurst announced. He then tossed the basketball to a tall, dark-haired guy that was in the group of Lakers' trainees. "Do chest passes to start with."

* * *

Coach Redhurst had just told everyone to take their lunch break, which Troy was grateful for since he was very tired and hungry. Finding a seat apart from the others he had been training with, he pulled a sandwich from a bag and began to eat it.

"Hey, aren't you going to eat with the other guys?" the coach called out to Troy.

Troy shook his head and continued eating.

"But this could be your chance to really get to know them."

Troy kept silent. He wasn't good at making friends, which was why he only had one, and the other people that were there seemed to be the obsessive jock type. From hearing them talk amongst one another, he had found out that in the past, they had dated several cheerleaders, been the most popular guys in their schools, and had lots of friends to hang around. Troy felt like the outcast.

"What's the matter, you're shy?" Coach Redhurst said as he headed toward Troy. He then took a seat next to him. "You know, you're the best player that's here. I don't think you would have a problem making friends with the others."

"Thanks," Troy responded. "Maybe I'll go sit with them another time, though."

"Alright. Well it's up to you where you sit."

* * *

Gabriella, behind Keith, entered the recording room. After spending half the day finding an agent to look into, and then a stylist that could help put together outfits for performances, it was finally time to get familiar with the recording room and how things worked.

"Now, if you play an instrument," Keith began, "You'll have to record yourself playing the song on your instrument before you record your voice. And you do that right here." He indicated a chair that was surrounded by several microphones. And then, after perfecting that, you record your voice over here." He showed Gabriella a spot with a single microphone and a set of headphones.

"I play guitar and piano," Gabriella said.

"Great! Well we have a keyboard we can bring in here and if you want to bring your guitar in tomorrow, someone can help you get started on recording your music. It takes a lot of tries, though, until you get things perfect, so don't get discouraged if it takes three or four days to record this. Same with the vocal recordings."

Gabriella nodded in understanding.

* * *

Troy dribbled the basketball up to the net and then tossed it through before making his way over to the bench to collect his things and leave. However, Coach Redhurst stopped him on his way out.

"Hey, Bolton!" the coach called.

Troy turn around.

"You were awfully good today. I think there's definitely a place for you in the Lakers. Maybe I can even cut your training time short and allow you to start playing in games in October, when the new season starts. Would you like that?"

"Are you serious? Yes!" Troy exclaimed.

"Great. I'll add your name to the list of players as soon as I get home."

* * *

Gabriella sat on her hotel bed, practicing her guitar. She wanted to be somewhat good when she went in to record her music the next day. She was afraid that if Keith thought she was terrible, he would abandon the idea of letting her record with the studio. And that would be a big loss.

As Gabriella put her guitar down, she heard her cell phone ring. Looking at the screen, she saw that it was Troy calling her. "Hello?" she answered as she lifted the phone to her ear.

"Hi, Gabriella," came Troy's voice.

A moment of silence came. Troy and Gabriella were apparently still a bit unsure about carrying a conversation between themselves. After all, neither of them were super social.

"So, how'd it go at your basketball training?" Gabriella ventured.

"Perfect. I'm on the team! I don't even need to finish the training program. I'm so excited about that."

"When do you start playing?"

"In October, when basketball season starts again. To tell you the truth, I'm a little nervous about playing as a Lakers' member. I've never been on TV before, and with professional basketball playing comes being on TV."

"I know how you feel. I'm nervous about my first singing performance-whenever it is. I'm not sure when I'll be singing yet. I need to meet the person I'm considering for an agent and then record my demo album and all that."

"I thought you were recording the demo album today."

"No; I was pretty much just picking out an agent and stuff."

"Oh. So when do you start recording?"

"Tomorrow I start with my music recordings. That'll take a few days. Then, I'll record the vocals, which will also be a few days."

"A few days for each?"

"Yes," Gabriella confirmed. "It's because not every recording of every song will be perfect, so you need to keep trying until you get it right."

"Sounds a bit complicated."

"It's not that bad; it's just a lot of work."

Another large pause came.

"So, I guess I'd better get off the phone and go to bed; I sure am tired after all that basketball today," Troy told Gabriella.

"Yeah, I'm tired, too," Gabriella agreed. "Well, I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

Gabriella went into the recording studio early the next morning, her guitar case, which contained her sheets of music along with the instrument itself, and headed back into the recording room.

"Hi," greeted a tall, brown-haired woman as she entered the recording room. "You must be Gabriella. I'm Denise. I help with the recording things."

"Hi," Gabriella smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"Now, you're recording your music today, right?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay, then, well before you begin, I would suggest playing a little to warm up. And you had needed a keyboard, too, correct?"

"Yes."

"I'll go get that, then." Denise left the room.

Gabriella got her guitar out of its case and began tuning it. After it was all tuned, she started playing a scale. As she did so, she felt a rush of excitement push through her. She wanted to play the notes faster, and while singing, but forced herself to keep her pace and concentrate fully on the scale.

At the present moment, Denise returned with the keyboard, which she plugged into an outlet that was on the wall, then placed it on the stand for it that was already in the room. "There you go. I'm gonna leave you to warm up alone. You can come get me when you're ready to start recording. I'll be in the front room."

"Alright. I will," Gabriella acknowledged.

* * *

Troy sat down on the bench to eat lunch-alone again. He didn't want the others to find out he was chosen to play on the team; they might get jealous, and then who knows what would happen? Anyway, he was thinking about calling Gabriella and seeing if she wanted to hang out after she was done at the recording studio and he was finished with basketball training. But, on the other hand, they both might be too tired at the end of the day to do something like that.

In about five minutes, Troy had his mind made up; he would call Gabriella. He began to dial her number on his phone. Of course he got her voicemail, though. He hadn't been expecting her to answer, anyway. "Hey, this is Troy. Could you call me when you get a chance? Bye," he said.

"Okay; let's start again!" Coach Redhurst yelled not too long after Troy was finished on the phone.

Troy hurried into the center of the gym.

"We're going to play a four-on-four game since there's eight of you here. I'm gonna divide you up in a way that seems fair-having the two tallest guys on separate teams and all that-and then we'll begin."

* * *

Gabriella put her guitar away and exited the recording studio. After driving her rental car to her hotel and getting settled in her room, she checked her cell phone messages. There was one from her parents, and one from Troy. Upon listening to them, she found out that Maria had broken her wrist, and, of course, that Troy wanted her to call him. Worried about her mother, she quickly dialed her home phone number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Dad," Gabriella greeted as she heard her father's voice on the other line. "I got your message about Mom. How's she doing?"

"Pretty good. She's in a little pain, but isn't in the hospital. All she needed to do there was get the bone set in place again," David answered.

"I feel so bad for her. Let me call the recording studio and arrange for myself to finish the recording another time. It can probably work out."

"You don't need to leave. Your mother and I both know how important this is to you."

"No; I want to come back to help with things. Mom probably can't cook and stuff because she can only use one hand, and Jenna usually doesn't help with things, so that leaves you to do all the work. Plus, you have a job."

"While that's true, I don't want to keep you from recording your demo album."

"You won't be; I'll just go finish after Mom's better."

"It'll be a month before her bone will be okay."

"That's fine; I can come home for a month. Dad, I really want to help. I'll get in touch with the person who's probably going to be my future agent through e-mail and then meet him in person when I come back here."

"I can see nothing's gonna make you change your mind." David sighed. "So, I guess I'll see you soon."

"I'll fly back tomorrow. See you."

"Alright, bye, Gabby."

"Bye."

Gabriella hung up her phone, and then called the recording studio. The man on the phone there said there was another opening in a month and a half if she wanted to come back then. Gabriella accepted, then, after getting her future agent's e-mail, proceeded to call Troy.

Troy answered his phone after it rang just once. "Gabriella, I am so glad to be hearing from you."

Gabriella giggled at Troy's enthusiasm. "Hi, Troy. I got your message."

"Oh. I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight. If you're not too tired, that is."

"I can't. I just got a call from home saying that my mom broke her wrist. I'm leaving California tomorrow to go back home until she's better."

"What about your demo album?"

"I'm coming back in a month and a half to finish that up. At home, I'm gonna get in touch with my future agent through e-mail and stuff, and then meet him when I come to California next time."

"So I guess I won't be seeing you for a while."

"No; I guess not."

"When you come back, I'll meet you at the airport if you tell me what time your flight is arriving."

"Okay; I'll get in touch with you before I fly back."

"Well I'll call you several times before you're ready to fly over. If that's alright with you, anyway."

"Yeah, it's fine." After a pause, Gabriella added, "I gotta go pack my stuff up for tomorrow."

"Could you call me when you make it back home?"

"Sure."

"Thanks."

"No problem. And I'm sorry I can't hang out with you tonight. I promise that I will when I come back, though-as long as there's not another family emergency."

"When you come back, if I'm able to meet you at the airport, we can go to my place or something."

"Sounds good. Now I've really got to go."

"Alright; I'll hang up now. Bye."

"Bye."

Gabriella sighed as she put her phone down. She really wanted to see Troy again, and a month and a half was a bit long to wait. _Oh, well_, she told herself. _Time will pass quickly at home, and at least we can call each other during that time. Talking to him through the phone is better than not communicating with him at all._

* * *

**I have a new story that'll be 5-7 chapters. It's called **_**Spring Break**_**.**


	4. Going Back Early

"Do you want anything else, Mom?" Gabriella wondered as she handed Maria a bowl of snack mix. She had been home for a week and a half so far, and everything was going well. That is, except for Jenna's constant complaints and demands.

"No, thanks, Gabby," Maria replied. "You can go do whatever you want now."

"Okay," Gabriella acknowledged, exiting the living room-the current room she was in-and heading upstairs to her bedroom to work on her songwriting.

As soon as Gabriella got comfortable on her bed with a notebook, pencil, and her guitar, her cell phone started ringing. Looking over at it, she saw that it was Troy who was calling. "Hey," she greeted, picking up the phone.

"Hey, Gabriella," Troy moaned.

"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked immediately, a note of worriment in her voice.

"I have the flu," Troy admitted reluctantly. "And I'm at home alone; my parents were back from vacation, but then they both had to go on some kind of business trip, and Chad's still finishing up at college."

"Aw," Gabriella said in sympathy. "Do you want me to try to arrange things with my family so that I can come stay in California with you until you're better? I don't think you should have to be on your own while you're this sick."

"I didn't mean for you to feel this guilty," Troy told Gabriella. "I was just calling because I wanted to talk to someone. I'm not asking for you to come all the way out here."

"I didn't think you were trying to," Gabriella assured Troy. "But please, just let me take the flight that's leaving the soonest down to California so that I can help you out for a few days."

Troy was too weak to not give in. Besides, having Gabriella come to help him out sounded like a good plan to him; it would give him an opportunity to spend some time with her. "Alright. Go ahead and come." He then proceeded to give his address to her.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Try to rest, okay?"

"I will."

"Well, then, bye."

"Bye."

* * *

Gabriella rang the doorbell of Troy's house. After explaining what was going on to her parents, who highly approved of her friendship with Troy and agreed that she should go help him out, and buying last minute airline tickets, she had made it to California.

Troy opened the door and let Gabriella inside. "Hi."

"Hi," Gabriella returned. With the one glimpse of Troy she had gotten so far, she had noticed that his bangs were wet with sweat despite the fact that the rest of his body was trembling. His eyes were unhealthily glossed over. "Go to bed," she insisted.

Troy nodded in agreement, then slowly made his way back upstairs and into his bedroom, where he collapsed on his bed and pulled the countless layers of covers up to his chin while wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

Gabriella, after putting her luggage down in the living room, hurried upstairs and entered the room with the open door that appeared to belong to Troy. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible," Troy mumbled through chattering teeth. "My throat's sore, I feel both hot and cold at the same time, and I ache all over."

"You shouldn't be cold with all those blankets over you," Gabriella observed, leaning over Troy and placing the palm of her hand on his forehead only to feel intense heat. "You're burning up," she spoke softly. "You should probably have your temperature taken."

"The thermometer's in the bathroom cabinet," Troy informed his friend.

"Okay." Gabriella quickly left the room, found the thermometer, then came back and handed it to Troy. "Here; put this in your mouth."

Troy did as he was asked.

When the thermometer beeped to indicate that it was done reading Troy's temperature, Gabriella took it and looked at what it read: 103°. "Troy, it's 103°."

Troy groaned.

"I know, I know," Gabriella murmured.

"Gabriella, you can go downstairs and watch TV or something. You don't need to stay right with me."

"Troy, you have a TV in your room," Gabriella pointed out, indicating the small TV in the corner of the room. "If I want to watch TV, I can still stay up here with you."

Troy closed his eyes and muttered, "Thanks. You can lie down next to me if you want." He was relieved that Gabriella had chosen to stay; the company made him very grateful, even if no conversations were passed between the two of them. Just being with his friend would make him feel slightly better. After all, there's nothing worse than being sick _and_ alone.

Gabriella, both cautiously and hesitantly, climbed onto Troy's king-sized bed, being sure to stay on the very edge, and grabbed the TV remote that was lying right next to her. She then turned on the TV and flipped through the channels until she found something that she wanted to watch.

Troy opened his eyes to glance briefly at the TV. "Gabriella, do you mind getting me more blankets?" he wanted to know. "There should be some in the closet over there." He pointed to his closet.

"Okay, I'll get them," Gabriella answered, sliding off the bed and walking over to the closet. However, when she opened it, she didn't see any blankets. "Troy, there aren't blankets in here."

"Oh," Troy moaned. "I probably took all of them out and didn't realize it."

"Well, it looks like you have a good number of blankets covering you," Gabriella remarked.

A quietness swept over the room. Nothing could be heard except for the sounds of the TV.

"Can you......" Troy broke the silence, then trailed off. "Um.....can you.....well, you don't have to.......but if you feel comfortable doing it, could you.....um.....well....." Troy turned his face away from Gabriella.

"What were you going to ask?" Gabriella wondered.

"I was just going to see if......if....you could snuggle up to me....just to try to get me a little warmer. I mean, you don't have to, but.....I was just asking."

Gabriella twisted her hair and gently bit her lip. She moved her eyes from Troy to the floor and her cheeks became red. "This.....this wouldn't mean we were.......um.....you know, dating? It would just be as friends?" Her blush deepened.

"Of course." Troy's face also turned red at the thought of Gabriella misinterpreting his question.

"Alright, then." Gabriella slowly walked back to Troy's bed and, getting onto it, shyly snuggled into Troy's side. "Is this okay?" she questioned, forcing her eyes to meet Troy's.

"Perfect," Troy replied.

* * *

"Do you want me to make soup or anything? If you want some, I can make it," Gabriella offered.

"I don't want you to get up," Troy responded, hesitantly allowing his arm to wrap around Gabriella. "I just got comfortable."

"Alright," Gabriella said, blushing at Troy's actions.

There was then an awkward silence between the two, in which Troy withdrew his arm from Gabriella and closed his eyes.

Gabriella sighed inwardly. _I wish he would've kept his arm there. That just felt so good. I wish he would kiss me....oh! What am I thinking? _Gabriella felt her face grow hot just from that one thought.

Troy suddenly got up from bed and went into the bathroom.

"What's wrong?" Gabriella wanted to know, following Troy. Through the open door, she saw him throwing up. _This flu just gets worse and worse,_ she commented silently. _I feel so sorry for Troy. _

"Gabriella, I'm fine," Troy assured his friend as he nearly ran into her while leaving the bathroom. "I just need to rest a little more."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," Gabriella agreed.

* * *

That evening, Gabriella made some chicken noodle soup for Troy and brought it to his room so that he could eat in bed. "I know you're not hungry," she began. "But not eating or drinking anything will only make you worse. So if you could just have a tiny bit of soup, that would be great."

Troy at up, took the bowl of soup from Gabriella and, using the spoon that was in it, drank some of the broth.

"That's all you want?" Gabriella checked as Troy handed her back to soup.

Troy nodded, then laid back down.

"Troy, is it okay if I have a quick shower in your bathroom?" Gabriella wondered.

Troy nodded again and closed his eyes.

Gabriella went downstairs, grabbed her pajamas from one of her suitcases, then went back upstairs and into the bathroom. After showering and getting dressed, she went to go check on Troy again. He was fast asleep. The clock in his room told her that it was no earlier than ten o' clock. Yawning, Gabriella debated with herself about where she should sleep. On the sofa downstairs? Or should she see if there was a spare room she could use?

Just then, Troy's eyes opened halfway. "Gabriella?" he mumbled.

"I....I was just wondering where I should sleep," Gabriella told Troy. "If it's alright to sleep here, that is."

"Of course it is," Troy answered. "And you can sleep here with me if you're comfortable doing that. If not, then you can use the sofa downstairs or my parents' room."

Gabriella got into bed next to Troy and cautiously snuggled up to him, like she had been doing before. There wasn't anything bad about liking to snuggle with a guy friend you were pretty close to, was there?

Troy forced himself to smile at Gabriella's actions.

"Good night," Gabriella spoke gently.

"Good night," Troy mumbled in return.

* * *

**Okay, I know this is really short and I'm sorry about it, but I had to start this chapter over twice because I wasn't sure what to write in it at first. Also, I'm sorry for not updating sooner, but I was finishing up my two shorter stories so that I'm not doing 4 stories at once. Oh, and also, I'm American, so the temperature I used in here was in Fahrenheit.**


	5. Will You Go to a Dance with Me?

Gabriella stepped off the plane that had just landed in a California airport. A couple weeks had gone by in which Troy had gotten better and Gabriella had gone home to finish helping her family while Maria finished recovering from her injury. At the current time, however, she was returning to complete the tasks needed to become a singer.

"Gabriella!" called out a voice.

After a minute of looking around the crowded airport, Gabriella saw Troy. Rushing up to him, she threw her arms around him in a friendly embrace. "I missed you," she told him. Over the time Troy was sick, he and Gabriella had gotten very close to one another, and before Gabriella had left his house to go back to Georgia, they had shared a hug-in a friend way, though, not a couple way.

"I missed you, too," Troy returned, hugging Gabriella back.

"Let me go get my luggage and then I'll come right back, okay?"

"Sounds good. I'll be here."

Gabriella disappeared and then, a moment later, reappeared holding two suitcases, one in each hand Her guitar case was hanging from her arm. "Do you mind holding something for me?" she asked.

"Sure." Troy willingly took one of the suitcases from Gabriella. "My car's here. How about you come back to my place for a little while? I don't have basketball training at the time, and it's been a couple weeks since I last saw you. I was thinking that it would be nice to just kind of catch up on things."

"I'd like that," Gabriella smiled.

* * *

"Gabriella, I'd like you to meet my parents," Troy announced as he led Gabriella into his house, where both his mother and father were sitting on the living room sofa watching TV.

Jack and Lucille turned to look at their son and his friend. "Hi, Troy," they both greeted.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad," Troy said. Then, he added, "This is my friend that I was telling you about; you know, Gabriella Montez."

"It's nice to meet you, Gabriella. I'm Lucille," Lucille introduced.

"I'm Jack," Jack spoke.

"It's nice to meet you both," Gabriella acknowledged with a small smile.

"Well, I guess we can take all your luggage upstairs," Troy told Gabriella.

"Why?" Gabriella wondered. "I'm just gonna need to take it to the hotel I'm staying at later."

"Actually, I thought you could stay with me. I won't charge you anything and we'll be able to hang out a lot more than we were able to last time you were here," Troy said. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to. It was just a thought."

"I think that's a good idea," Gabriella responded.

Troy smiled at Gabriella before helping her to carry her luggage up to his bedroom.

* * *

"I got to get to the recording studio," Gabriella announced that evening after she had finished her dinner of a chicken legs, mashed potatoes, and finally, for dessert, a chocolate chip brownie. "I'll see you later, Troy."

"You have to go?" A look of disappointment crossed Troy's face. He looked down at the ground in an attempt to hide it; he didn't want to make Gabriella feel bad that she needed to leave.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah. I'm meeting the people I might hire for my agent and stylist tonight so that I can discuss things with them. I probably won't be back until midnight, so don't wait up for me."

"Midnight?" Troy groaned, almost involuntarily.

"I'm sorry. I would love to spend more time with you, but I have a goal to achieve, and I need to do whatever it takes to reach it."

Troy took a deep breath and forced his voice to sound nonchalant. After all, Chad was back from college. He could ask him to come over for a little while. "I know. I feel the same way about basketball. Well, I guess I'll see you later, then. And just to tell you, you're welcome to share my bed with me again if you want-you know, like you did last time you were here? So if you wanna, just get in whenever you're ready."

"Okay. I'll do that. And again....I'm sorry I can't hang out right now."

"It's okay."

* * *

Gabriella arrived at the recording studio, where she was greeted by Keith, who shook her hand, told her it was good to see her again, then took her to his office, where two young adults were standing. They both looked the same age, had blonde hair, and possessed very similar features. They were twins-Sharpay and Ryan Evans. Sharpay had a great ability to piece together perfect outfits quickly, while Ryan would trickily persuade people into doing business with him.

"Gabriella, meet the twins you're interested in hiring for your agent and stylist," Keith spoke.

"Hi," Gabriella greeted.

"Hi. I'm Sharpay," Sharpay introduced. "And this is my brother Ryan. He might get a little irritating to you at times, but he's okay. After all, I've put up with him for twenty-three years."

"Don't listen to her," Ryan mouthed secretly.

Gabriella couldn't help but giggle at Sharpay and Ryan's actions.

"I have the perfect outfit for you to wear for your singing debut," Sharpay told Gabriella. "From the picture I saw of you, I made sure it goes perfect with your complexion and hair color. By the way, I also have a hair style picked out. It's kind of one of those half-up-half-down 'dos. I hope you like it. And the outfit is a knee-length dress with spaghetti straps and a scoop neck. It's medium blue. The top is glittery, then there's a wide satiny waistband that's white and the skirt's one of those tulle ones-you know, like ballerinas wear. I used to take ballet when I was little. And tap, and jazz....I wanted to be a performer. But then, I discovered fashion and changed my mind." Sharpay finished her rambling with a smile.

_Wow, she loves to talk. If I end up hiring her for sure, I'll never be lonely again,_ Gabriella thought.

"Ignore my sister," Ryan insisted. "She's a blabbermouth."

"Ryan!" Sharpay playfully smacked her brother's arm. "That is soooo not nice."

* * *

"What's this?" Chad questioned, pulling a sheet of paper from the mess on Troy's dresser. After Gabriella had left, Troy had invited Chad over, and, fortunately for Troy, Chad had been able to come.

Troy looked at the paper his friend was showing him. It was a notice about the dance for all the guys that were in the basketball training program Troy was in. However, it was obviously one requiring a date, and since Troy didn't have a girlfriend, he had just kind of tossed the paper aside and hadn't thought about the dance since the day he had heard about it. "Oh, that's just something that says about this dance I could go to."

"Are you going?"

Troy shook his head. "No. I don't have a girlfriend I could bring with me, and besides, I don't really talk to the other guys at the training program. I don't think I would want to get together with them outside of basketball."

"What about that girl you met on the plane? What did you say her name was? Gabrielle?"

"Gabriella," Troy corrected. "And she's just my friend. It would be too awkward to ask her out. Anyway, we're both too busy to date. Even if I did ask her to go to the dance, we probably wouldn't go out at all after that, and I'm not the kind of guy that just dates a girl for the fun of it."

"I know. You've never been on a date on your life. But unless you want to be fifty and single, I would suggest getting on with it."

Troy sighed. "Well, I like Gabriella. And I almost wish that she _was_ my girlfriend. But asking her out would be almost impossible because if I do it the wrong way, she might completely reject me as a friend."

"Troy, you really should ask her on some kind of date if you like her. It doesn't have to be the dance if you don't want to go to that. Even just taking her out to dinner would probably be good enough."

"I don't know."

* * *

Gabriella arrived back at Troy's house around twelve-thirty in the morning. After getting ready for bed, she quietly crept into Troy's room, where she saw Troy lying in his bed, fast asleep. Silently, she went over to the empty side of his bed and climbed onto it. However, even after pulling the covers over her, she didn't feel like sleeping. She was too busy trying to overcome the temptation to snuggle up to Troy. Sure, she had done it the last time she was over at his house, and she didn't think there was any harm in snuggling with a guy friend, but when they had snuggled before, he had been sick and had asked her to get close to him. Gabriella let out a sigh and began to toss and turn restlessly.

"Gabriella?" Troy mumbled, opening his eyes partway. Evidently, Gabriella hadn't been quiet enough for him to stay asleep. "You're back, I guess?"

"I'm sorry," was Gabriella's response. "I think I was moving around too much. I didn't mean to wake you, though."

"It's okay. So, how did everything go at the recording studio?"

"Good. I officially have an agent and a stylist." Gabriella yawned as she finished speaking.

"That's great."

Silence filled the room.

"Troy, do you think we could um......do what we did last time I was here?" As she asked her question, Gabriella mindlessly played with the bed covers, not wanting to look at Troy despite the fact that the darkness of the room would easily hide her growing blush.

"What?"

"What we did last time I was here."

"Um....you mean.....um.....well....you mean when we.....snuggled?"

"M-hm." Gabriella's reply could barely be heard.

"Sure; we can do that. If you want."

Gabriella slowly inched closer to Troy until she was right up against him.

"Alright, well....good night."

"Good night."

* * *

The next morning, Troy and Gabriella barely got a chance to speak to one another. Troy needed to get up two hours earlier than Gabriella did for his basketball training, so by the time Gabriella was awake, Troy was gone.

Gabriella got all ready, ate some cereal for breakfast, then got into her rental car and drove to the recording studio. There, she found Denise waiting for her in the recording room, ready to help her finish up recording the music to her songs.

Just as Gabriella was about to begin working on her recordings, Ryan entered the room. "Hey, Gabriella," he began.

"Oh, good morning, Ryan," Gabriella greeted.

"Guess what? I have really good news. I got a job offer for you!"

"What is it?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, it's just a one time thing, but you would be singing at the Los Angeles theater. They're having a new play this month, and for a pre-show thing, the directors want someone to sing. I contacted them about it and found out all the information. Here it is." Ryan handed Gabriella a paper.

Gabriella took the offered object. "Thanks," she smiled.

"You have two days to think about whether or not you want to accept this offer."

"Okay. I'll call you when I decide on my answer. Thanks!"

* * *

Troy sat down to eat lunch alone, as usual. The other guys were sitting in a circle discussing the dance, and Troy especially wanted to avoid talking about that. Everyone would probably tease him if they found out he wasn't sure if he was going.

"Guys, I have an announcement to make," Coach Redhurst called out.

Everyone turned their faces toward their coach.

"It's something about that dance that's scheduled for next Saturday. Now I know most-if not all-of you are already sure you're going. Though I just wanted to say that this it is required that you all go."

_What?_ Troy thought. _Why? That doesn't even make sense! And now I need a date! I don't even know any girls around my age except for Gabriella, and I'm too scared to ask her out, even though I really want to._

Coach Redhurst noticed the look of horror that had come over Troy's face. "What's the matter?" he wanted to know.

"Nothing," Troy mumbled.

* * *

That evening, Troy walked up to Gabriella, who was in his room working on writing a song. "Hi, um....could I talk to you for a minute? I mean, if you're too busy, that's okay; I'll just leave and come back later."

"No, I'm not too busy," Gabriella told Troy, looking up from her work.

Troy took a deep breath as he sat down on his bed next to his friend. "So, how'd everything go today?"

"Great! Ryan found me a job offer. He gave me the information on it, so I just need to look it over, think about it, and let him know whether or not I want to accept it."

"Congratulations!" Troy said, giving Gabriella a quick hug.

Gabriella smiled and hugged Troy in return. "Thanks."

"Anyway, I just wanted to ask you something."

"Okay. Go ahead."

"Well, you see, everyone in my basketball program is required to um.....well.....go to this....." Troy stopped, scared to say the rest of his sentence.

"Go to what?"

"I mean, there's a....." Troy trailed off again, struggling with himself to think of the best way to ask Gabriella to the dance.

Gabriella kept her attention on Troy, waiting for him to say something again.

"Gabriella, I know we're friends. Now I'm going to ask you something. And feel free to say 'no' if you don't want to do what I'm going to ask you. I don't want this to ruin our friendship."

Gabriella nodded in understanding and, again, waited for Troy to continue.

"Will you go to a dance with me?"

* * *

**Hey, my friend zanessalltimelover95 is new to FF, and wants people to read her story. It's called People Change. Could you R&R it, please?**


	6. The Dance

A smile slowly spread across Gabriella's lips, and her eyes seemed to fill with all the light in the world. A light blush covered her cheeks as she resisted the temptation to wrap her arms tightly around Troy and scream 'yes.'

Troy held his breath. What was Gabriella thinking? She appeared delighted, but was she really? Or was she trying to think of a polite way to reject his offer?

"I would love to," Gabriella answered, cheerfully yet quietly.

Troy allowed himself to breathe again. "Thanks," he spoke.

"When is the dance?" Gabriella wondered.

"Next Saturday."

"Okay. I'll try to arrange things with the recording studio so that I don't need to go there that day."

"Thank you so much for saying 'yes.' I don't know what I would do if you couldn't go. You see, all the guys in my basketball program are required to go to this dance, and I wouldn't have a date if you didn't accept."

"Well, I feel very honored to be going out with a future star of the Lakers," Gabriella smiled.

Troy returned Gabriella's smile. "Well, I feel honored to be going out with a future singer."

A silence passed between Troy and Gabriella.

"Where is this dance?" Gabriella wanted to know.

"In the party room of the Los Angeles Resort Center," Troy answered.

"Will I need to buy a dress or anything?"

"I guess you'll have to be at least a little dressed up. I don't want you to have to go out and buy special things, though. If you already have something dressy, you could probably just wear that, then. I don't think this dance is going to be really formal or anything."

"Alright."

"And Gabriella-before we go to the dance, would you like to go out to dinner?" Troy asked.

"Sure."

Time passed until the evening the dance was to be held came. Gabriella slipped into a knee-length, deep violet dress. The neckline was square, and the straps were about an inch thick. It had a high waistline made from a wide strip of the same violet fabric that the rest of the dress was. The skirt was lightweight, summery, and ever so slightly pleated. After making sure it was zippered in the back, Gabriella put on her sandals, which were high heeled and silver. Her hair was then, by Sharpay, styled in a gorgeous up-do. Sharpay had insisted on choosing Gabriella's look for the party, even though it didn't have anything to do with singing. According to her, she was practicing for when Gabriella went to go sing at the theater. Ever since the day Gabriella told Ryan she accepted that offer, she had been going crazy with different looks she could give her, since she didn't think the original one she had chosen for her client's singing debut was good enough anymore.

Gabriella took a look at herself in the full-length mirror that was in the room of Sharpay's house she was in-the styling room. "I really like this look," she told her employee. "Now, do you need to do my make-up yet?"

"Yes. Come sit in the make-up chair."

Gabriella listened to Sharpay. After she was finished getting all her make-up done, she thanked Sharpay, then left to go meet Troy at his house.

"Hi," Troy greeted as he saw Gabriella approaching him. "You look nice tonight."

"Thank you," Gabriella blushed.

"Are you ready to go?"

Gabriella nodded.

Troy hesitantly slipped his fingers around Gabriella's small hand, then led her to his car. After they got there, he opened the door to the passenger seat for her, waited for her to get it, then shut it behind her before getting into the drivers' seat.

_Wow, he's really polite,_ thought Gabriella.

"So, where do you want to go to dinner at?" Troy asked after a minute or two of riding along the road in silence.

Gabriella shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You know the places around here better than I do, anyway."

"Well, do you wanna eat at a fancy place or a casual one? I want you to at least choose that."

"Is casual okay?"

"Yeah; sounds good to me."

Troy and Gabriella demurely smiled at one another from across the small restaurant table. They had just ordered their food, and were now left in an awkward silence until it came. Neither of them knew what to say. After all, they were on a date-it wasn't like they were hanging out casually like they were used to doing.

"So, what's the name of the song you're gonna be singing before that play?" Troy wanted to know.

"I didn't pick out what I'm going to sing yet," Gabriella replied.

"Oh."

"Can I hear you sing sometime?"

Gabriella blushed and shook her head. "No; it would be embarrassing. Maybe you can come to the play, though, just to hear me before the performance starts."

Troy reached across the table and grabbed Gabriella's hand. "I'm sure your voice isn't anything to be ashamed of," he told her, his cheeks becoming hot from his own words.

Gabriella bit her lip and, with her free hand, adjusted the necklace that was around her neck.

"We should uh.....stop talking about this, shouldn't we?" Troy suggested, sliding his hand away from Gabriella's and leaning back in his chair, mindlessly playing with the tie he was wearing as an accessory for his suit.

"Sure," Gabriella mumbled nervously.

At that moment, Troy and Gabriella's waitress brought over the food Troy and Gabriella had ordered. "Enjoy your meal," she smiled.

"You might not want to eat too much," Troy began. "There will probably be food at the dance, too."

Gabriella suddenly remembered one detail that had somehow totally slipped her mind when Troy was asking her to the dance: she couldn't slow dance-or do any form of ballroom dancing-at all. The only dance she had ever learned was jazz. Her mom, who had taken that type of dance when she was a teenager, had taught the different moves to her when she was about thirteen.

"Is something wrong?" Troy questioned, noticing the sudden look of intense nervousness that had crossed Gabriella's face.

Gabriella refused to look up at Troy as she replied, "I can't dance."

A feeling of guilt washed over Troy. He should have never asked her to the dance in the first place! He should've asked if she had ever danced before! Why did he have to end up putting her in an awkward position?

"I'm sorry," Gabriella apologized.

"It's fine," Troy assured. "I'm not the best dancer, either. My parents showed me how when I was a freshman, but of course it's not the freshest thing in my mind right now. But at the dance, just follow my lead as best as you can. You'll do great."

"I don't know...."

"Listen to me; if you don't want to dance, then I won't force you to. We can just sit down and talk while the slow dances are going on. I doubt a lot of the guys are really into dancing, anyway, so we probably won't be alone."

"But what if everyone else does dance?"

Troy shrugged. "We'll worry about that when the time comes. Though I don't care about fitting in, so if you're uncomfortable with dancing in front of everyone, I'll sit down with you."

"Thanks," Gabriella smiled.

Troy helped Gabriella out of his car after parking in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Resort Center. "Are you ready?" he checked.

Gabriella smiled, working hard to hide her nervousness. She then bravely nodded as she shyly took Troy's offered hand.

Troy led Gabriella inside the building and to the large party room, where music was blasting loudly. Members of the basketball program were in the middle of the floor dancing with their dates, and tables with vegetable trays, pizza, and several varieties of cookies were set up against one of the walls; two benches, along with a few chairs, were lined up alongside another one.

"So, what do you want to do?" Troy asked Gabriella.

"I don't know," Gabriella replied.

"Let's go sit down," Troy suggested, beginning to lightly tug on Gabriella's hand in an indication that she should follow him over to one of the benches.

Gabriella agreed in a more relieved tone than she realized she was speaking with and took a seat beside Troy. It wasn't until she was comfortable watching everyone else dancing and having a good time that she realized her fingers were still tangled with Troy's.

"What?" Troy spoke as he noticed Gabriella staring at their connected hands.

Gabriella blushed. "Nothing."

Troy suddenly had thoughts rush upon him. Should he let go of Gabriella's hand, or would it embarrass her too much to indicate that he had noticed her looking at their hands? If he kept holding it, would she still be embarrassed? Should he dare to ask her if she wanted to keep holding hands?

"Hey, Bolton, why don't you dance?" said one of the basketball program members.

"Uh.....I'm okay here for now," Troy began. "Besides, I had a big meal before I came; I don't think dancing would be the best idea now."

"Okay, then."

"Did you just say that or do you really not want to dance?" Gabriella questioned, biting her lip as she cautiously allowed her eyes to meet Troy's.

"I don't want to dance until you're ready, Gabriella," came Troy's reply.

An hour passed. During that time, Troy and Gabriella had stayed on the bench with the exception of walking over to the tables to grab some snacks.

"Do you want to go home?" Troy asked Gabriella softly, noticing that her eyelids appeared a bit droopy.

"We don't have to," Gabriella answered.

"But do you want to? You look a little sleepy."

Just as Gabriella was about to reply, _Love Story_ began playing. Gabriella loved that song; ever since she heard it for the first time, it had been one of her favorite songs. Suddenly, she dreamed of Troy asking her to dance and taking her into his arms as they glided across the floor.

"Gabriella," Troy prompted after a few moments.

"I love this song," Gabriella murmured, mostly to herself.

"Would you like to dance?" Troy wanted to know, holding out his hand for Gabriella to take.

Gabriella adjusted the straps of her dress before almost hesitantly placing her hand in Troy's palm and letting him lead her into the middle of the room. "I don't think I'm gonna be good at this," she warned shyly.

"It's okay," Troy assured. "Just do your best."

Gabriella nervously followed Troy's steps until she was confidently dancing without looking down at the ground to check if she was staying at the same pace as Troy or not.

"You did great," Troy complimented when the song was over. "I'm impressed with how you picked that up so quickly. Did you have a good time with it?"

Gabriella smiled and nodded.

"I'm glad. Would you like to dance again?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yes."

Troy took Gabriella back into the center of the room and began to dance with her for the second time. After that dance was finished, he suggested they take a break and get things to eat and drink.

"I'll just have some water, please," Gabriella told Troy after he asked her what she would like to drink.

"Okay." Troy grabbed the pitcher of water that was in front of him, poured some into a plastic cup, used a spoon to scoop some ice from the ice bucket to Gabriella's cup, then handed the cup to Gabriella. "Here you go."

"Thank you," Gabriella smiled as she took the cup from Troy and slowly sipped the water from it.

"Do you want a cookie?" Troy wondered, offering Gabriella a freshly-baked sugar cookie with blue sprinkles on it.

"Alright; thanks," Gabriella responded, taking the cookie from Troy's hand.

Troy arrived in the driveway of his house. The dance had been coming to a close, so he had just decided to take both himself and Gabriella home. However, before getting out of the car, he stared at his friend's smiling face.

"Why are you staring at me?" Gabriella questioned after a moment as she undid her seatbelt.

Troy quickly looked away. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "It's just that.....oh, never mind."

Gabriella giggled.

"So, did you have fun tonight?" Troy asked.

"The most fun I've had in a long time," Gabriella replied.

Troy didn't say anything for a minute. When he finally did open his mouth, he said six words that both surprised and delighted Gabriella. "Gabriella, will you be my girlfriend?"

"I'd love to," Gabriella answered without hesitation.

Troy leaned over and shyly brushed his lips against the soft skin of his new girlfriend's cheek, causing her to blush. Finally he was relieved of the burden containing the question he had wanted to ask Gabriella since the moment he had laid eyes on her. However, he didn't foresee that things wouldn't stay as perfect as they seemed at the current time. He had no clue that his innocent-seeming question had just opened up a world of heartbreak.


	7. Promises

"Sweetheart, could you hand me my lunch?" Troy asked Gabriella one morning. Almost a week had passed since the night Troy and Gabriella had gotten together, and so far everything was going great. Although they were both busy, they still found time to bond with one another; the fact that they were both in the same house really helped.

Gabriella grabbed the small brown paper bag that was on the kitchen counter and passed it to Troy. "Here you go," she said before resuming the task of getting some cereal and apple juice. "And have fun at your basketball training."

"Thanks, and bye," Troy smiled, slightly hurt that Gabriella wasn't even making a move to give him a good-bye hug-they hadn't quite gotten to kissing yet-or walk with him out to his car. However, he hid his feelings well as he made his way over to the door. Turning the knob, he longingly glanced back at Gabriella once more.

"Troy!" Gabriella exclaimed, suddenly stopping despite the fast pace she was moving and rushing up to her boyfriend. She had obviously been too distracted to realize what was really going on.

"What?"

Gabriella threw her arms around Troy in an embrace. "Bye. Have a good day. I'll be at the recording studio until noon, and then I'll be coming back here and getting ready to go home."

Troy's heart almost stopped as he offered a hug in return. Gabriella, the girl he had barely gotten to experience a relationship with, was _leaving_? It couldn't be true! "What do you mean, going home?" he ventured, refusing to make eye contact.

"It was going to take two weeks to get all my work here done. I met the requirements. I have my demo album, I have an agent and a stylist, and now it's time for me to go home. I'll be back here to sing at the theater in a couple weeks, but for now, I've really got to get back to my family. You didn't expect me to stay here forever, did you?"

"No." Troy still avoided Gabriella's chocolate eyes. "I just wasn't thinking about you needing to go. And the worst part is that I won't even be here to take you to the airport; training goes until three."

An unbearable silence haunted the room.

"So, I guess this is good-bye then," Gabriella finally spoke.

"Yeah." Troy reached out to give Gabriella a second hug. "I'll really miss you."

"I'll miss you, too." Gabriella impulsively rose to her tiptoes and placed a kiss onto her boyfriend's cheek. "I'll call you when I get home, okay? Good luck with everything."

Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek in return. "Alright. If you have to go, then go. I'll see you when you come back."

* * *

********

Gabriella walked through the front door of her house. She was greeted by hugs and 'I missed yous' from her parents and a hateful glare from Jenna, who was playing on her Nintendo DS.

"So, how'd everything go out there?" David asked.

"Well, I told you about my demo album being complete-and I brought home a copy-but I wanted to wait to tell you the bigger news until I could see you in person."

"What's the bigger news?" Maria wondered.

"You know Troy, right? Well, he and I started dating."

Maria hugged her daughter again. "That's great! He seems like a nice boy. Maybe you can bring him over sometime so we can all meet him."

"Well, he's busy with his Lakers' stuff, but I'll try to find a time I can bring him over."

"Oh, that's right, he's a basketball player," David cut in.

Jenna, who had been listening to her family's conversation with wide eyes and a half-open mouth, said, "You have a _boyfriend?_ Wow, I can't believe that anyone would ask you out. Besides, you can't have a boyfriend. I'm the oldest, so I have to marry before you. You're already one step closer to marriage, and I've not even begun the game yet."

"Jenna, that was mean," Maria commented. "You should be happy for your sister."

"But this should be me. I mean, a basketball player and a nobody? Something about that setup seems a bit...erm...not right. _I_ should be the one dating a star. Not her."

"Gabriella's not a nobody! She's very talented," David insisted, defending his youngest daughter.

"Whatever. To me, she's nothing, so..."

"That's not at all nice," Maria informed Jenna. "Go to your room if you're going to act this way."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "I'm not a kid. You can't boss me around."

"Well, as long as you're living in this house, I have a right to control you somewhat. I don't want this kind of behavior in here."

Jenna gave her mother another eye roll and made no move to get up from where she was sitting.

Maria decided to ignore her oldest daughter. "Gabby, do you want me to help you get all your stuff upstairs?"

"Sure. Thanks, Mom," Gabriella replied.

* * *

********

After listening to her demo album with her parents, Gabriella suddenly realized that she hadn't called Troy yet during the time she had been at home. Sighing, she scolded herself for not showing her boyfriend she was a good girlfriend for the second time that day as she grabbed her cell phone and dialed his number.

"Hi," came Troy's voice from the other line.

"Hi. I'm so sorry that I didn't call sooner. I got caught up in spending time with my family and all. I know that I've been a really bad girlfriend so far today."

"Don't say that. You were busy. You probably didn't get free time until now."

"Yeah," Gabriella agreed softly, still feeling guilty about what she'd done.

"Did your parents listen to your demo album?" Troy asked.

"Yes, they did."

"You know, I never got a chance to listen to it. Could you bring it back to California with you?"

"Okay." Gabriella scolded herself a second time for being a bad girlfriend-again.

"Well, I guess I'll go now and let you get back to your family. See you in a couple weeks."

"See you. Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

********

The next evening, Troy looked at his cell phone, fighting off the desire to call Gabriella. He felt like he needed to hear her sweet, clear voice sound through the speaker of his phone. He loved how she listened attentively to every word he spoke and consoled him when he was feeling upset or sick. And at that moment, he was in pain. His right leg ached from a pulled muscle that had occurred that morning in training, and his head was spinning from a terrible headache coming from a single problem-a party to celebrate the end of basketball training. It was coming up in a week and a half, six days after training ended-well, for everyone else, that was. Troy's training was cut short, so the next day would be his last. Anyhow, the bad thing was that Gabriella wasn't going to be in California for another couple weeks yet, meaning about two and a half to three of the seven day intervals. And to the party, all the guys were supposed to bring dates.

_Maybe I'll call her tomorrow. It's a little late now,_ Troy thought. _Besides, she would probably say 'no' to going with me to the party, anyway. She wants to have some family time._

Troy walked away from his phone and went downstairs

Gabriella answered her ringing cell phone. "Hi, Troy," she greeted.

"Hi, Gabriella," Troy responded. "I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to come back to California a little early to go to a party that's being thrown for the end of my the basketball training program."

"I'd love to, Troy, but the thing is, I need to practice my singing for when I do my performance and I promised my mom and dad that I would spend some time with them while I'm here."

"So in other words, you're saying 'no?'"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Troy," Gabriella murmured sympathetically.

"Don't worry about it," Troy assured, holding back the disappointment that would have crept into his voice if he hadn't blocked it.

"Well," Gabriella began after a pause, "I guess I'll see you in a couple weeks, then. I promise that when I come back to do my performance, we'll do something together. Alright?"

"Sounds good. Anyway, I guess I'd better let you go now. Bye."

"Bye."

Gabriella hung up her phone and walked over to her computer. Sitting down in front of it, she opened up her e-mail. There were two messages in her inbox. One was from Sharpay and the other was from Ryan. Sharpay was letting Gabriella know that she was working on an outfit for her to wear during her performance while Ryan was telling Gabriella that he had gotten another job offer for her-to sing in New York City just two days after the her first performance. That would mean she would need to leave California almost as soon as she arrived there. Sighing, she remembered her promise to Troy. She could go back early, but then that wouldn't be fair to her parents, as she would be breaking her promise to them. Nothing would work. It would be impossible to accept the New York City job _and_ keep both of her promises. After a minute of thinking Gabriella replied:

_Ryan,_

_Thank you so much for finding me another job offer! I really appreciate your work. But I'm a little unsure as to whether or not I should take the offer or not. Can I let you know my answer in a few days?_

_Gabriella_

After exiting the e-mail area on her computer, Gabriella walked downstairs and looked around for Maria. Upon finding her, she asked, "Mom, can I talk to you for a minute

Maria, who was sitting on the sofa reading, looked up at her daughter. "Sure," she smiled. "Sit down." She patted the cushion next to her before placing her bookmark inside her book.

"I have a problem," Gabriella started. "I promised that I would spend time with you and Dad while I was here, but Troy asked me to a party. I said I couldn't go, but then I promised him I'd do something with him when I went back to California for my performance. However, Ryan just e-mailed me telling me of a job offer in New York City. If I took it, I would need to leave California very soon after I performed there. And that would mean I couldn't do anything with Troy." She sighed. "I don't know what to do."

"Well, what do you think you should do?"

Gabriella shrugged. "I think what I really need to do is keep my promises. But I don't think I'll be able to do that if I take the New York City job offer."

"You could go back to California a day early to spend time with Troy."

"I know, but I'll really need to practice my singing, too. And get enough rest before I perform."

"Didn't you stay over at Troy's place before? Why don't you call him up and ask him if you can spend the night there if you go back early? That wouldn't be a date, but you would still get to spend time with him."

Gabriella's worried expression changed to one of joy as she threw her arms around Maria. "Mom, that idea's wonderful! Thank you so much!"

"You're very welcome."

Gabriella, still smiling, arose from the sofa and rushed upstairs. Grabbing her phone, she dialed the Troy's number. He would be so happy she could stay over at his house!

"Hey, Gabriella," Troy spoke.

"Hi, Troy," Gabriella returned. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Anything. Go ahead."

Gabriella explained everything to Troy.

"That's a good idea. I love having you over at my place!" Troy responded. "I'll get everything ready for you the day before you come. I'll get some movies and popcorn and while we rest under the covers before we go to sleep at night, we can have some movie time."

"Our own little date," Gabriella giggled.

"Yup."

"Oh, and instead of me going to the party with you, would you want to come up here for a couple days? My parents want to meet you, so I don't think they'll mind if you're over here during the family stuff."

Troy agreed, and the two young adults proceeded to discuss days and times for Troy to arrive and depart. Once they had those things all sorted out, they said good-bye to one another and hung up their phones. Already, they could tell things were getting difficult for them. However, they would try to be true to one another always-just as long as their dreams didn't require something else.


	8. Afraid of Falling in Love

It was an hour before the time Troy was to arrive at the Montez house, and Gabriella and Maria were hurriedly getting last minute things done-vacuuming, making some brownies, and cleaning off the dusty living room bookshelf.

"Oh! Should we get the guest room ready?" Maria asked Gabriella as she made her way to the bottom of the staircase, thinking her daughter was going to tell her 'yes.'

Gabriella blushed and shook her head. "We don't need to. While I was at Troy's house, I...shared his bed with him."

At that moment, Jenna, who had heard Gabriella's line of the conversation, cut in with a rude comment. "So, I guess the little princess of the family really isn't royalty after all. _I_ haven't slept with a guy yet, so that means I'm better than her!"

"No, no, no!" Gabriella hurriedly exclaimed. "We didn't sleep together, sleep together, we just shared a bed. We didn't do anything else. Trust me."

Jenna rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. "Why should I believe _you_?"

"Jenna, I really don't think Gabby would do something like sleep with a boy she just started dating. You need to calm down about this situation, and when Troy gets here, I don't want any nasty things said to him," Maria told her oldest daughter.

"Whatever." Jenna rolled her eyes.

* * *

The plane Troy was expected to arrive on landed in the Atlanta airport. As all the passengers stepped off of it, Gabriella kept a lookout for Troy. As soon as she spotted him, she rushed up to him and offered a tight, affectionate embrace.

"Hi," Troy greeted, smiling as he returned Gabriella's hug and laid a brief kiss on the top of her head.

"Hi," Gabriella spoke.

"So, how are you?"

"Good," Gabriella smiled. "Oh, and I have a lot of things planned for us to do. I got some movies ready, I thought of some places around my house that you would probably like to see, and my mom and I made brownies and bought lots of other snacks so we'll have plenty to eat!"

"You know," Troy began after his girlfriend finished her rapid listing of planned activities, "I don't think I've ever heard you talk so much at once before-well, that fast, anyway."

Gabriella giggled.

"How about we go get my luggage so we can get out of here?" Troy suggested, squeezing Gabriella a second time.

"Sounds good," Gabriella agreed.

* * *

Gabriella led Troy inside her house. Sitting in the living room, just waiting for Troy and Gabriella to arrive, were David, Maria, and Jenna. Of course Jenna, who hadn't bothered to change out of her pajamas, had her arms crossed over her chest, bored.

"Hi," Gabriella started. "This is Troy."

David and Maria smiled while they rose from their seats to shake Troy's hand and introduce themselves. Jenna, however, refused to budge. She watched through narrowed eyes as Troy wrapped an arm around Gabriella's shoulders after finishing up shaking her parents' hands.

"And this is my older sister Jenna," Gabriella finished.

Troy greeted Jenna.

"Hey," Jenna mumbled, rapidly blinking her eyes and giving Troy a flirty smile. "So, you're my little sister's boyfriend? Well, I'm single, so if you ever get bored of the spoiled princess, feel free to take the poor peasant out for a fancy dinner."

Troy glanced over at Gabriella, speechless with embarrassment.

Gabriella shrugged on impulse and opened her mouth to say something, but then ended up closing it again as Maria stepped in to help out with the little problem.

"Jenna, please don't act like you're helpless," Maria spoke. "And don't flirt with your sister's boyfriend. Besides, I have a feeling you're a little old for him. He's around Gabriella's age."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Mom, I'm not too old for him!"

"Come on, Troy," Gabriella said, motioning for Troy to follow her up the stairs to her bedroom.

Troy grabbed the single suitcase he had brought with him before walking upstairs with Gabriella.

"So, this is my room," Gabriella told Troy as she led him into her room and flipped the light switch on the wall to turn on the lights. "You can put your suitcase wherever you want."

Troy placed his suitcase against a wall, where he was almost sure it would be out of the way. He then allowed his gaze to wander over the entire area and take in all the details: the sky blue walls, the queen-sized bed covered with a blue and purple comforter, the polished wood dresser, and the computer desk that had a silver laptop sitting on top of it.

"Do you want anything?" Gabriella wondered.

Troy shook his head. "No; I'm fine."

Gabriella sat down on the edge of her bed and patted the space next to her. "Troy, you can sit next to me if you want."

Troy took the offered seat. "Has anything interesting happened since you got back here?"

"Nothing extraordinary," she replied. "How about for you?"

"Nothing real major. In September, I'll be joining the Lakers for pre-season practice. The beginning of October is our pre-season games, and late October we start playing for real, so I'm just trying to relax while I still can."

"After you leave here, I'll probably start getting ready for all my singing performances."

"I'm gonna see about coming to your California one," Troy told his girlfriend.

Gabriella smiled. "Thanks."

"Will you come to one of my Lakers' games?"

"Maybe," was Gabriella's almost careless answer. "I don't know how busy I'll be with singing by that time, but I guess I could try to go to at least one." She shrugged.

Troy looked down, hurt. He had just acted completely committed to his relationship with Gabriella by offering to go to her performance, and then she wasn't sure if she could return the favor? The thought seemed to pierce his heart. He knew how important singing was to Gabriella, but surely she could skip it for one night-just one evening-and go watch him play basketball. He was planning to sacrifice a few games for her sake, even though basketball was something he really loved, so why couldn't she sacrifice some time for him?

"Troy? Are you alright?" Gabriella questioned.

Troy brought himself back from his intense thoughts. "Yeah, yeah, sure," he muttered. "It's just that...um...I kinda wanna talk to you about what just happened between us. Meaning the whole basketball and singing thing."

"What about it?"

"Gabriella, I am one hundred percent committed to you. If I would need to skip a couple basketball games to go watch one of your big performances, I would. But the problem is that you don't seem to want to do anything for me. I understand that singing is something very important to you, but if I can sacrifice time of my favorite activity, then why can't you?" Troy's tone was gentle.

"Troy, singing is everything to me. Maybe I just feel a little stronger about it than you feel about basketball."

"So does that mean that we're never going to see one another again after you leave for New York?"

"Maybe we'll see each other once in a while."

Troy sighed. "Gabriella, is something wrong? Don't you like me? Did I do anything to hurt you?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No; you didn't hurt me. And yes, I do like you."

"Are you sure?"

Biting her lip, Gabriella looked Troy in the eye and said, "I'm positive."

"Then tell me, is singing the only reason you're intent on not going to any of my games?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yes."

"I don't mean to offend you or anything like that, but don't you think that it's a bit selfish of you to refuse to give up one night for me? You know, I really like you, and every once in a while, I would like to get together and go out for dinner at least. If you're not gonna come to my games, then I think we should at least still date."

"I'm not being selfish," Gabriella defended firmly.

Shock overtook Troy. His timid girlfriend had never spoken that way before, and he had always found it hard to imagine her doing so. "Well, will you still date me after going to New York?"

"I don't know," Gabriella responded with a slight harsh edge to her voice. "I mean, I like you, but I don't know if this relationship thing is gonna work out. Maybe we should just be best friends again."

"You don't think this relationship is going to work?" Troy repeated. "Gabriella-"

"Troy, you don't understand. I have my reasons."

"Reasons for what?"

"Reasons for thinking what I think."

"About our relationship?"

Gabriella nodded. "I just don't know how you can not understand at all. Singing is my life, and I-I just don't know what I would do if I got fired from a singing job. And that might happen if I refuse to work some nights."

"What about on your days off?"

"Singers don't have days off, Troy. Even when they're not performing, they're writing lyrics, composing melodies, recording CDs, rehearsing for future concerts, and meeting with their agents and stylists. It's a lot more complicated than basketball. And then what about if I become really famous? The paparazzi are going to go wild if they see me with you-especially since you're a basketball player. We'll be all over the news. And I happen to know that paparazzi sometimes say things that aren't true about famous people. The last thing I need is an embarrassing rumor."

"You're worried about the paparazzi? You should relax about that for now. They're not chasing you around at this moment."

"But Troy, if we start getting really serious with our relationship-"

"You mean we're not serious with it already?"

Gabriella sighed. "We've just started it not too long ago."

"And you're not taking it seriously? Is that what you mean? Because if you're not taking this seriously, we're not on the same page, because I am dead serious about us."

"Already?"

"What do you mean, already? Gabriella, I've been waiting for the right girl to come along for years. That's why I've never dated. And then I found you, and I want to try to make you as happy as I can."

"But you not understanding me _isn't_ making me happy."

Troy took a deep breath. "You've used every excuse under the roof-the paparazzi one being the most far-fetched. You just got started! The paparazzi won't be after you for a while yet."

"How do you know? I could suddenly become the most popular singer in the United States!"

"Well, if that did happen, why would you be ashamed to be seen with me?"

"I wouldn't! I just don't want lies and rumors to start! You shouldn't want to be a part of them, either! I know what I'm getting into, and I need to make the right decisions. If I don't, things could mess up and not be able to get sorted out."

"But why can't we be together until you get really famous?"

"I'm afraid to."

"Why?"

"Troy, the longer a couple is together, the closer and closer they get to one another. I don't want a difficult break-up! And when I get really famous, we'll _need_ to break up! I just want to make it as painless as possible."

"We can stand through anything if we try."

"No, we can't."

"What do you mean we can't? Of course we can! Relationships are all about being together even when things get a little rough. You can't just be afraid of growing close to me."

"I'm not afraid of growing close to you. We're already close to each other!"

"Then I don't understand. Why don't you want to give this a try?"

"I told you already; I'm scared!"

"But then you said that you were scared of growing close, and then changed your mind immediately and said you weren't. So what are you afraid of now? I need to know so that hopefully I can try to find a way to make everything alright."

"I don't want to tell you," Gabriella mumbled.

"Please?"

Gabriella didn't answer.

"Sweetheart, nothing will ever get better unless you tell me what's going on. If you don't, we might end up not even being friends anymore! Friends can't have an ongoing problem between them. It would make their friendship distant and unreal. So please, just tell me what you're afraid of."

"I'm afraid of falling in love with you."


	9. I'll Do Whatever it Takes

Troy cupped Gabriella's chin in one of his calloused hands and gently lifted her face, which was bent down in embarrassment, up so that his eyes became connected with hers. "You're afraid of falling in love with me?" he repeated both slowly and lovingly.

Gabriella's cheeks turned a deep red. "Y-Yes, I am," she stammered as a tear trickled down her face.

"Why are you crying?" Troy questioned, using his finger to brush the tear off of Gabriella's cheek before carefully pulling her into a comforting hug.

"I-I don't know what to do. Everything's just a blur right now. I feel like I need to let you go, but I really don't want to, and I don't think you want to let go, either. I really need to follow my dream, though. I don't have any other plans for my life." By the time Gabriella was finished speaking, she had large tears running down her face and dripping off of her chin.

"Slow down," Troy gently instructed. "You're talking too fast for me to understand what you're trying to say."

Gabriella took a deep breath and forced herself to grow calm. "I've had this dream to be a singer for practically my whole life. And because I still want to, I feel like I need to not have anything in the way. So I kind of have this feeling that I need to let you go."

"Let me go?"

Gabriella began to cry again as she nodded.

"Honey, you don't have to let me go."

"Y-Yes, I-I do," Gabriella sobbed. "It's for the best."

"Do you want me to go home now?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No. I want you to stay here. This is the last time we'll be able to be with each other. I just want this to be a sort of good-bye thing. It would really bother me if you had to leave without me giving you a proper good-bye."

"Okay. I'll stay for a couple days then. Just like I was going to do before. Now do you still want me to sleep in your room? Or should I either find a guest room or sleep on the sofa downstairs?"

"My room," Gabriella murmured, suddenly becoming very clingy and gripping Troy as tight as she possibly could. She couldn't believe that in just two short days, her boyfriend would be gone from her life forever. _Well, I could have helped it,_ she told herself. _Actually, I could still do something about it, but I don't think I should._

"Alright." Troy gently rubbed his girlfriend's back, attempting to help her stay calm.

* * *

That night, as Troy and Gabriella were lying in bed, Gabriella cautiously rested her chin on Troy's chest and let out a tired and frustrated sigh.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" Troy wanted to know, loving caressing Gabriella's dark curls.

"I'm just upset," Gabriella replied.

"Is it anything I can help with?" Troy asked.

"No," Gabriella mumbled, rolling off of Troy and back to her own side of the bed. She made sure her back was turned to him so that he couldn't see the few tears that escaped from her eyes.

Troy didn't say anything. However, in a few moments, he heard whimpering from his girlfriend. "Gabriella, sweetheart, are you alright? Please talk to me."

Gabriella threw the covers off of her and, slipping her feet into a pair of flip flops which were right next to her bed, grabbed her car keys off her dresser, quietly snuck out of the room, and crept outside, not caring that she was still in her pajamas. She then hurried to her car, got in it, and drove off, not even knowing where she was going.

**

* * *

**

The next morning, Troy got out of bed. He hadn't slept for a minute overnight because he had been terribly worried about Gabriella. At first, he had thought she was just going out for a short ride to get things off her mind, but when the minutes she was gone turned into hours, he had a feeling she wasn't going to be back.

"Troy, where's Gabriella?" Maria questioned as she noticed Troy walking down the stairs alone.

"She was upset last night," Troy began. "She started crying, I asked her if she was okay, and then she just got up and left. I don't know where she could have gone, but I'm really worried."

"What time did all this happen?" David wanted to know.

"Around eleven-thirty," came Troy's answer.

Maria glanced over at the clock on the wall as she poured herself some coffee and settled down at the dining room table to eat her breakfast of a blueberry muffin. "It's eight o' clock now. I don't know why she would be out this long. You two weren't fighting before she left, were you?"

Troy shook his head. He knew that earlier that day, he and Gabriella had been in a slight disagreement, but she hadn't seemed to hold anything against him. He couldn't imagine she would act upon her anger hours after the discussion they had had.

"Hm. This is sort of odd, then. Let me try calling her cell phone." Maria walked over to the home phone and dialed Gabriella's number. However, Gabriella's phone must have been off because the voicemail came on immediately.

"No answer?" David said as he saw his wife put down the phone while concern flooded her face.

"No," Maria confirmed.

"I can go out and look for her if you want," Troy offered. "I mean, I would need to borrow your car to do that but..."

"You'll look for her? Oh, yes; please! That would be so helpful! Thank you!" Maria exclaimed.

"No problem. I'd be happy to," Troy smiled.

David handed the car keys to Troy along with some money. "Here you go. They money's for gas. Good luck finding Gabriella."

"Oh, I can pay for gas," Troy protested.

"No, you're doing us a big enough favor without needing to spend your money."

"Well, thank you." With that, Troy left the house. Getting into the Montez car, he started it and backed out of the driveway. He then began riding down the road, being sure to look out for Gabriella's car or Gabriella walking down the sidewalk or sitting in grassy spot.

* * *

Two hours later, Troy returned to the Montez home without his girlfriend. He had driven a good, long distance, but no sign of Gabriella had been visible. He walked dejectedly up to the door and twisted the unlocked knob.

"You didn't find her?" Maria guessed as she noticed the sad look on Troy's face.

"No. I'm sorry," Troy mumbled, handing the car keys to David. "I looked everywhere."

"Do you want to go out with me?" Jenna burst out, a flirty smile breaking out upon her lips. "I know a lot of ways to get your mind off of you so-called 'girlfriend.'" While saying 'girlfriend,' she made air quotes with her fingers.

"Jenna, leave him alone," David ordered.

Troy sank down into a chair. "I'm so very sorry," he said again.

"It's not your fault," Maria consoled.

Troy didn't respond.

At that moment, the sound of the front door was heard in the room. A second after that, Gabriella appeared inside, her eyes red from lack of sleep and her feet dragging. She was obviously exhausted.

"Gabby!" Maria gasped, running up to her daughter to give her a hug. "We were so worried about you!"

David embraced Gabriella after Maria was finished. "I'm glad you made it back home!"

As Gabriella finished hugging both her parents, she looked at Troy with sadness glittering in her eyes. "We need to talk," she decided firmly. "Come up to my room." Without waiting for Troy to say anything, Gabriella rushed upstairs and into her bedroom.

Troy arrived in his girlfriend's room a couple seconds later.

"Troy, you need to go home. I've made my final decision. I don't want to see you anymore. I don't even think we should be friends anymore. It's too much for me to handle. Just...leave. I never want to look at you ever again." Gabriella's voice was quivering as she spoke.

Troy didn't respond. He just picked up his suitcase, stuffed everything that was out of it back inside, and headed downstairs. "Um...could I have a ride to the airport please?" he asked David.

"The airport? Why? Are you leaving already?" David sounded surprised.

Troy nodded. "Yeah. Gabriella wants me to leave. And I don't want to make her even more upset than she already is by insisting on finishing my visit."

"Is there a flight heading out to California anytime soon?"

Troy shrugged. "I don't know. I'll just hang out at the airport, though until one comes."

"You sure?"

Troy nodded. "Positive."

"Alright; well let's go then."

* * *

Gabriella threw herself onto her bed and began to sob uncontrollably. What had she just done? Why did she let Troy go? Why hadn't she said she would try to carry a relationship with him while working on her singing career? Since she broke up with him, she would most likely never be able to see him again. Well, except for when he played basketball on TV, but still-that wasn't the same as seeing him in person.

"Gabriella, are you okay?" Maria wondered, concerned as she walked into her daughter's room upon hearing sobs.

"I-I let him go," Gabriella cried.

"What?" Maria wasn't sure what was going on.

"T-Troy. I-I just let him go. I-I didn't even give him a chance. W-We could have made our relationship work, b-but now h-he's gone. I-I'll never talk to him again."

"So you broke up with him?"

Gabriella lifted her head from where it was buried in her covers and nodded.

"Why?"

"I-I need to be a singer a-and I just can't be worrying about being responsible for a steady r-relationship like this. I-I had to let go."

"I see." Maria nodded slowly in understanding.

Gabriella wiped the tears from her eyes and took several deep breaths before speaking again. "Mom, do you think I made the right choice to break up with Troy?"

"I think you could have given it a little more thought and maybe talked things out with Troy before automatically assuming things wouldn't work out," Maria told her daughter.

"I talked to him yesterday, and he said things would work out alright, but I guess I was just too stubborn to really listen."

"Oh."

"And I think it's too late now to call Troy and tell him I changed my mind and I do want to be with him. If I did, he would probably think I was one of those on and off girls."

"Yeah, I agree; don't call him right now. Continue with your singing, think this over thoroughly, and if in about a month you still feel like you want to be with Troy, call him up and ask him to get together and do something with you. Just make sure you know what you want before you make any moves."

Gabriella sighed. "Okay. Thanks for the advice, Mom."

"You're welcome." Maria embraced her daughter before exiting the room.

After her mother left, Gabriella noticed a piece of paper lying on the carpet. Walking up to it, she picked it up and read what it said:

_Gabriella,_

_I'll do whatever it takes to be with you._

_Troy_

Tears poured out of Gabriella's eyes once again. Troy must have dropped that note as he was leaving so that Gabriella would know that he was willing to take any risk for her and go through anything he needed to stay with her. That thought pierced her very heart like a knife as she realized she had probably just broken his.


	10. Meeting Again

A month passed. During that time, Gabriella had tried to push Troy out of her mind by taking on more singing jobs than she could possibly handle. The past week, she had only been able to sleep for five hours each night, which meant Sharpay had to literally cake make-up onto her tired face to hide the dark circles underneath her eyes. With each performance, Gabriella had to struggle not to yawn. However, she refused to slow down with her work. It was like an addiction now; the only thing that would keep her mind off her ex-boyfriend.

Troy, like Gabriella, had also submersed himself into his career. He had been going to the gym every day in the early morning to practice basketball. He would stay there until late at night, almost forgetting to exit before it closed. He would also obsess over watching re-runs of Lakers' games, which could be found on twenty-four hour sports channels after he got home in the evening. Whenever he thought about Gabriella, he would use every inch of strength to shove her out of his mind.

****

********

**

* * *

**

One evening, after giving off a perfect performance at a banquet in California, Gabriella was driving back to the hotel she was staying at. The roads were pretty busy, which was normal considering that a banquet had just finished. As sleepy as Gabriella was, she forced her eyes to stay not only open but also alert.

Gabriella turned a corner. A car coming the other way around the corner suddenly, with full force, hit the front of her car, causing Gabriella to skid and bump into the curb. Her tire roughly scraped the concrete, damaging it to the point where it became flat. The rear view mirror nearest to the curb cracked as it hit a stop sign.

_Oh, no,_ Gabriella thought as panic seized her. _Now what am I gonna do?_

At that moment, a young man, who had seen the whole accident, drove up to Gabriella's car. Parking beside it, he knocked on the drivers' window.

At the sound of the knock, Gabriella turned her head. She was absolutely shocked. She was staring right into the face of Troy Bolton, the one who she had forced herself to break up with. The one she had tried very hard to push out of her mind for good.

Troy was equally surprised. He had just seen the accident, and since he had an experience with broken cars, thought he would be able to change any flat tires. "Gabriella?" he gasped.

Gabriella rolled down her window. "Troy? What are you doing here?"

"I just saw the accident happen. I swear, though, I had no idea the person in this car was you."

Gabriella was silent. She didn't know what to do. The person who had hit her hadn't had their headlights lit, which was dangerous since it was dark. However, she hadn't been able to get their license plate number and they had just madly driven off after hitting Gabriella, so looking at it right then wasn't an option.

"Do you need any help? Are you hurt?" Troy was intensely worried.

Gabriella, in a rush, climbed over to the passengers' seat, emerged through the door, and began running off.

"Gabriella! I'm sorry," Troy shouted. "Please; just let me help you. Your car, too. You'll need someone to help fix it! Please...just come back."

Gabriella ignored Troy's desperate cries.

Troy was debating whether or not to go after Gabriella when he heard her scream. That made him forget the choice of letting her go. He dashed off in the direction she had run in, finding his way using the street lights and the crescent moon which hung high in the sky until he saw her. She had slipped into a muddy creek. Luckily, though, she was near the edge of it, so he reached out his hand and grabbed hers. Not offered-grabbed-and drug her out.

"Troy, why did you help me?" Gabriella questioned, anger and rebellion burning in her shaky voice.

"Because I care about you," came Troy's firm reply. "Now come on; let's get to my car. You're coming to my place to get cleaned up and sleep. In the morning, we'll worry about your car."

Gabriella was too tired to keep protesting. Instead, she just followed Troy to his car, ignoring the hand he held out for her to hold. In the car, Troy spread some old rags on the passenger seat so Gabriella could sit without getting the already half-destroyed leather seat dirty and wet. He then proceeded to drive her to his house, all in silence. Upon reaching there, he noticed that-thank goodness-his parents had left for their weekend vacation. The last thing he wanted was to have his mom and dad asking questions about the situation.

Once inside, Troy noticed that Gabriella's tired face was smeared with mud, as was her disheveled hair. Her elegant dress was thoroughly soaked and smudged with the same brown color as her face and hair were smudged with. Her arms and legs were slightly scraped; evidentially, there had been sharp stones by the creek. However, to Troy, Gabriella still looked beautiful.

Tears began streaming down Gabriella's muddy cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Troy apologized. "I'm sorry for everything that happened tonight."

"Y-You shouldn't be seeing me l-like this," Gabriella sobbed, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment. "I-I'm a mess."

"It's okay," Troy comforted. "I'll make sure you get all cleaned up. Come on; follow me upstairs."

Gabriella, trying to control her emotions, walked up the stairs after Troy.

"Here's the bathroom. I'll get a nice, relaxing bubble bath ready for you, okay?"

Gabriella nodded to show she had heard what Troy had told her.

After filling up the tub with hot water and bubbles, Troy handed Gabriella a clean towel and said, "Take as long as you want, sweetheart. I'll be in my room when you're finished." He then exited the room, shutting the door behind him to give Gabriella her privacy.

Gabriella let out a sigh as she stripped off her uncomfortable, wet clothing and stepped into her refreshing bath, not even caring that Troy had just called her 'sweetheart.' There was nothing she could do about being around Troy at that moment; she was stuck at his house for the time being, so she might as well get used to-again-how her life worked when he was a part of it.

Almost two hours later, Gabriella got out of the bathtub, dried herself off, and modestly secured her towel around her petite frame. She then left the bathroom and walked to Troy's closed door, which she knocked on.

"Come in," Troy spoke.

Gabriella turned the doorknob. "Do you have anything I could wear?" she wondered, not coming into the room. She was embarrassed to have Troy see her in a towel.

"Of course," Troy replied, going to his closet and pulling out one of his t-shirts and some basketball shorts. He then handed them to her. "Here you go. Do you feel better now that you're clean?"

Gabriella, biting her lip, nodded. "I'm gonna go get dressed," she told Troy hurriedly as she rushed back to the bathroom.

Troy nodded in understanding and went back to his bed to lie down. A minute later, he saw Gabriella return. "Come here, next to me," he instructed.

Gabriella suddenly felt a thrill rush through her body as she thought of getting to lie down and sleep next to Troy again, like she had done when they were together. Even though she felt that on the inside, she still paced herself while going over to her side of the bed and getting under the covers.

"Sleep as long as you want; it's past midnight," Troy murmured, daring to get close to Gabriella after turning out the lamp on his end table.

Gabriella contentedly snuggled against Troy's chest and wrapped her arms around his body. "Good night."

Troy, half-surprised at Gabriella's actions, returned her embrace. "Good night."

"Troy?" Gabriella spoke after a minute of silence.

"Hm?" Troy responded.

"Thank you for helping me out. Even though I said I never wanted to see you again, I still appreciate you letting me come here to get cleaned up and rest." Gabriella's cheeks turned crimson as she spoke.

"You're welcome anytime," Troy told her.

After a few seconds of staring into one another's eyes, Troy and Gabriella leaned in and allowed their lips to meet in a passionate kiss-the first kiss either of them ever had the chance to experience.

"Wow," Gabriella breathed as she finally pulled away.

Troy took his fingers and brushed a strand of Gabriella's damp hair behind her ear. "That was amazing."

Gabriella giggled and leaned in for a second kiss.

Before Troy and Gabriella could think, they soon allowed each one of their kisses to become deeper and deeper and their bodies to grow closer and closer.

Troy, while kissing Gabriella, slowly removed his arms from her, instead using them to begin lifting up her top. When she didn't protest, he continued doing it until it was off, allowing him to be able to, despite the darkness of the room, see her exposed upper body.

Gabriella blushed at Troy's stare and quickly covered her chest with her arms.

"You're so beautiful," Troy assured her, kissing Gabriella's shoulder as she relaxed and began to work on taking his shirt off.

Within two minutes, Troy and Gabriella were both fully naked. They then proceeded to make love to one another as passionately as they possibly could. They were together after a separation that seemed as if it had lasted a year, and, because of that, they were both equally anxious to reveal how deep their feelings for each other still were.

* * *

The next morning, Troy and Gabriella woke up-still firmly locked in each others' arms-way past the time the sun rose.

Gabriella's cheeks turned about one hundred shades darker as she realized that, after the events of the previous night, her body was still completely bare. Grabbing the covers, which were pretty much only obscuring her legs, she hurriedly pulled them up to her chin.

"Gabriella honey, last night was absolutely amazing," Troy murmured, running his fingers through Gabriella's tousled hair. "And I hope I showed you how I truly feel about you."

Gabriella blushed again and nodded, smiling.

Troy pressed a light kiss onto Gabriella's lips before letting go of her and rolling over to see what time it was. "It's ten o' clock," he announced.

"Ten o' clock? Troy, I gotta go. I need to catch the plane to Florida at twelve," Gabriella poured out in a big rush.

"You need to go? You absolutely have to?" Troy questioned.

Gabriella nodded and was about to jump out of bed when she remembered that she was naked. "Troy," she began.

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"Can you um...not look at me?" She blushed. "I need to get up and well, you know...after last night...I'm still..." Toward the end, she was so embarrassed, she was fairly choking out the words.

Troy took both of Gabriella's hands and stared intently into her eyes. "Gabriella, I promise I won't look if you don't want me to, but there's just something that I need to tell you. Your body is nothing to be embarrassed about. You're one hundred and fifty percent beautiful." He placed a kiss onto her forehead.

Troy's comment made Gabriella blush even deeper. "T-Thank you," she stammered.

Troy reached over for the spare blanket that lay at the bottom of the bed. Upon grabbing it, he handed it to Gabriella. "Here; wrap up in this, okay?"

"Thank you," Gabriella said, very grateful toward Troy as she took the blanket and, as quickly as possible and after being sure Troy wasn't watching, slid out of bed and wrapped it around herself. "I'm just gonna go get a shower and then I'll be-" She cut herself off as she realized she couldn't say, 'ready to leave for the airport.' She had all her things at the hotel she was staying at, and there was no way she was wearing Troy's clothes out in public. Besides, her car was damaged and sitting at the side of a road somewhere.

"What's the matter?" Troy asked, seeing the look of frustration that crossed over Gabriella's face.

"I-I can't leave. I can't get to Florida." She burst into tears. "My career is ruined. I failed."

"Come here," Troy spoke gently, grabbing the shorts he had been wearing the day before from a spot on the floor right next to the bed and pulling them on before sitting on the edge of the bed and holding out his arms for Gabriella.

In a flash, Gabriella was on Troy's lap, her head buried in his bare shoulder.

"So, what's the matter?" Troy repeated, placing tender kisses all over Gabriella's face, neck, and shoulders.

"I-It's over for me. The whole singing thing," Gabriella answered, inhaling and exhaling slowly and deeply as to calm her hyper nerves.

"Why?"

"All my things are at the hotel I was staying at. I can't go out of here and all the way to Florida in your clothes. And then my car. I forgot about that. I need to do something about it. I just don't know what to do with myself."

"You have your cell phone with you, right?"

Gabriella, remembering that she had abandoned her purse, which contained her phone, in her car, shook her head sadly.

"Well, do you know your agent's number by memory? You can call him and cancel your next performance. And all the ones scheduled within a week. Take off some time to sort things out."

"But-"

"There's no point in trying to protest, sweetheart. It's what you need to do."

"But-" she tried again.

Troy shook his head. "There's nothing to argue about, honey. You had a car accident, and now you need to take some time off of your work until we can sort things out."

Gabriella didn't bother to say anything else. Instead, she just wrapped her arms loosely around Troy's neck and snuggled far into him.

Troy hugged Gabriella. "You'll be fine. Now, how about you forget your shower for the time and just get some clothes on, come down to the kitchen to eat breakfast, then call your agent. After that, you can worry about showering. While you're in the shower, I'll run to your hotel and get your stuff so you can wear your own clothes to go see about your car, sound good?"

Gabriella nodded and slid off of Troy's lap. She then got Troy's clothes that she had been wearing for a short while the previous night, and went into the bathroom. Once she was finished in there, she walked downstairs to find Troy in the kitchen pouring bowls of cereal for both her and himself.

"What are we eating?" Gabriella wanted to know, looking over Troy's shoulder at the contents of the two bowls that were on the counter.

"Just some Rice Krispies," Troy answered. "It's the only breakfast food we have left in the house."

"I love Rice Krispies," Gabriella commented as Troy took the bowls over to the table.

"That's good," Troy responded, tapping Gabriella's tiny nose gently with one of his fingers, causing a giggle to escape from her smiling lips.

When they were finished breakfast, Gabriella phoned Ryan, explained what had happened. He understood perfectly and promised he would cancel all the performances she had scheduled for the next week. Gabriella thanked him, then hung up the phone.

"Gabby, can I have the number to your hotel room?" Troy requested. "I'm gonna go get your things now."

Gabriella gave the number, thanked Troy for doing her that favor, then, after kissing him good-bye, went upstairs and into the bathroom to take her shower.

* * *

"Gabriella, I'm back!" Troy called from downstairs.

Gabriella bounded down the staircase and flung her arms around Troy. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," Troy returned, pressing a kiss onto the top of Gabriella's head. "I got your stuff." He handed Gabriella a suitcase. "If you wanna go get changed, we can go to see about your car."

"Alright. You can wait here; I'll be back down in a minute." Gabriella disappeared upstairs, reappearing moments later with a yellow and white sundress and yellow flip-flops on. "I'm ready," she announced.

"Okay," Troy acknowledged. He then took notice of what Gabriella was wearing. "You look nice."

"Thanks," Gabriella smiled.

"You're most welcome," Troy spoke, taking Gabriella's delicate hand. "Now, let's go see what we can do about your car."


	11. Trouble

The next morning, Gabriella awoke to find herself staring into Troy's clear blue eyes. "Hey," she giggled as she gently laced her small fingers with his bigger ones.

"Hey," Troy returned, leaning over to touch his swollen, love-bitten lips to Gabriella's, which, by the way, were in about the same condition as his. That was the result of making love for the second night in a row. Now that the young couple were with each other again, they couldn't seem to stay away from one another.

"I had fun last night."

"Me, too," Troy agreed, pulling Gabriella close to him and stroking her curls as she laid her head onto his bare chest. As he placed gentle kisses in various places on her face, he asked, "Did you know you're absolutely beautiful?"

Gabriella blushed. "Well, that's what you tell me."

"That's because you're a lovely girl."

There was silence for a moment or two in which Troy and Gabriella embraced one another tenderly.

"Anyway, I just wanted to talk to you about something," Troy started. "You know, since we've met up again, we've kissed each other and, more importantly, made love. Those are symbols of our feelings for one another. So I was gonna ask if we could try our relationship again."

"I don't know," Gabriella sighed.

"Are you still afraid of falling in love?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No," she replied. "Because it's already happened." After a deep breath and a pause, Gabriella continued. "Troy, I love you."

"I love you, too," Troy returned, starting to kiss Gabriella's lips.

After returning the kiss, Gabriella gazed lovingly into Troy's eyes. "There's no use hiding my love for you anymore," she murmured.

"Well, does that mean we can be together again?"

"But we'll never be able to see each other."

"Yes we will. Whenever I'm playing a game in a city where you're singing, we'll stay overnight somewhere together," Troy protested calmly.

"I don't know..."

"Gabby, sweetheart, we already made love-two nights in a row. I don't see how we could go any further. We're pretty much in an unofficial relationship now." Troy caressed Gabriella's cheek as he spoke.

"How does that make us in an unofficial relationship?" Gabriella wanted to know.

"Because it's something really special-something that shows how much we love and trust one another. It's something that I wouldn't do with just anyone. And now I feel that since we did it, we have a strong bond between us. And it's not a friendship bond. So that means that we're in an unofficial relationship."

Gabriella shivered slightly and snuggled closer to Troy. "Your air conditioning is cold," she remarked, changing the topic.

"I can turn it down if you want," Troy offered.

"But if you do, you won't get to cuddle me to help me warm up," Gabriella pointed out.

"Aw, you wanna be cuddled?"

Gabriella nodded, looking slightly embarrassed, and relaxed as she felt Troy's strong arms wrap lovingly and ever so gently around her.

"Better?" Troy checked.

Gabriella nodded again. "So, when are your parents coming back?"

"This evening," Troy replied.

"I think I should leave before then," Gabriella told Troy.

"Why? My parents know about you," Troy spoke, gently rubbing his hands over Gabriella's arms.

"But we're not officially together anymore. Troy, I don't want anyone-not even people that I'm close to, not even my own family-to know about this. I'm fairly popular now, and if people hear that I spent two nights over at your house, they'll start saying things," Gabriella explained.

"Like what?"

"They'll guess that we made love, and I don't want the whole world to know that. My sister said, before you came to my house that one time, that it would be stupid to do that with someone I barely knew. The world would think the same thing."

"Who cares what the world thinks?"

"I don't want embarrassing stories to be out."

"I don't think anything will," Troy comforted. "Your car accident didn't get on the news."

"But-"

"But what?"

"I'm just...scared."

"If you're scared of looking bad in public, then I'm right with you. I was in the newspaper when they had pictures of all the Lakers that are going to be playing on the team this year. It said I was new and all that. People know who I am."

"Yeah, but-"

"Stop protesting about everything! Things will turn out fine. I promise you."

"Well can you please not tell your parents?" Gabriella begged.

"Honey, I might have to. You're staying here for a week, remember?"

"I never said I was staying at your house for a week. I just agreed to stay in this state for a week."

"Please, Gabriella? Please stay here with me. I want you to be close to me."

Gabriella sighed. "Well then, if I'm staying, you need to promise to make your parents swear they won't tell anyone about this. Not their friends, not my parents, no one. Can you do that?"

"I promise," Troy decided. "And I also assure you that everything will be fine."

Gabriella allowed herself to smile. "Thank you so much."

"Now that we got that all worked out, do you wanna come grab a quick shower with me?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No, thanks."

"You sure?"

"Troy, I don't want you looking at me."

"But I've already seen you."

"That was at night, after we turned out the lights to go to sleep. I'm sorry, but I'm just feeling really shy and insecure right now." Gabriella's cheeks turned red and her eyes shied away from Troy's as she finished speaking, instead darting to the covers to make sure her body was decently covered.

"I'm gonna tell you again that I think you're incredibly beautiful," Troy started. "But if you're uncomfortable about taking a shower with me, it's alright. You can just wait here for me and I'll see you in about ten minutes, okay?"

"Okay."

After gently placing a kiss onto Gabriella's forehead, Troy got out of bed-pulling on some shorts as he did-and headed into the bathroom.

After Gabriella heard the bathroom door close, she got out of bed, found her pajamas, which were scattered on the floor, got dressed, then grabbed the notebook she used for song lyrics along with a pencil. Climbing back underneath the blankets of Troy's bed, she started jotting down some lyrics she had in her head. To her, music was the best way for her to let her feeling out, and the whole situation with Troy was so frustrating that she decided she needed to write a song about it.

"Hey, beautiful. I missed you," Troy spoke as he walked through his bedroom door minutes later.

"Troy, it's only been ten minutes," Gabriella reminded him, giggling.

Troy took a seat on the bed next to Gabriella. "What are you working on?" he asked, looking over her shoulder.

"A song," came Gabriella's soft reply as she reached up with one of her hands to play with Troy's wet locks of hair.

"What's it about?"

"Us." Gabriella blushed.

"Can I see?"

Gabriella, half reluctantly, handed Troy her notebook.

"I'm your dream come true?" Troy questioned softly as he took his turn to blush. He had thought he had overcome being embarrassed around Gabriella, but apparently he hadn't.

Gabriella's cheeks tinted red, also as she nodded, not allowing her chocolate eyes to meet Troy's sky blue ones.

"This is a...um...well, just a really good song. I love it more than just a good song, though. It's special. I love how you're writing the lyrics in a perfect poem form that shows our feelings for each other. It's just so sweet of you." Troy dropped a kiss onto Gabriella's cheek while handing the notebook back to her.

"Thanks," Gabriella acknowledged.

"Now, do you want some breakfast?" Troy then glanced over at the clock. "Or lunch, actually. It's past eleven o' clock."

"Really?"

"Well, we were up late having fun with one another last night," Troy reminded Gabriella. When he said 'up late,' he wasn't joking, either. Off and on, from about ten o' clock to three, Troy and Gabriella had been making love and not sleeping for even ten seconds. In between their sessions of love-making, they would snuggle and enjoy the silence of the night until either Troy or Gabriella decided to get one another in the mood for sex all over again.

"Yeah," Gabriella giggled, leaning against Troy's shoulder.

"Hey, I'm not saying this to be rude or anything, but before my parents come, I think you should have either a shower or a bath. I don't want my mom and dad guessing about what we were doing for the past two nights, and I don't think you want them to be doing that, either."

"After lunch I'll take a bubble bath," Gabriella decided. "If that's alright with you."

"Of course. Now come on; I'm starving!"

* * *

After Gabriella was done with her bath, she went into Troy's room to find Troy putting his sneakers on. "Going somewhere?" she questioned.

"Just for a quick trip to the gym," Troy answered. "I really should play at least a little basketball since I didn't yesterday. Wanna come watch? When I'm done, we can go get ice cream."

"What if someone sees us?"

"Gabby, I wish you wouldn't be so concerned about being seen in public with me. Please, just go out this once."

"Oh, alright. But I think I should get changed first." After finishing her bath, Gabriella had just put her pajamas back on, thinking she would just be lying around for the rest of the day. Going over to her suitcase, she sorted through her clothing until she found a pair of denim shorts and a red spaghetti strap tank top. "Troy, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna need to make you leave for a minute while I get changed."

"Why can't I stay?"

"Troy, you know what'll happen if you stay. You'll start getting in 'that mood' again, we'll end up in bed for the rest of the day, and you'll get cut from the Lakers because you forgot how to shoot a basket. Besides, you staring at me while I'm getting changed would make me a bit uncomfortable."

"What? They wouldn't cut me from the team!"

"I think they would. Now just go, please."

Troy, who had been joking about staying in his room with Gabriella the entire time, walked through the doorway, shutting the door behind him. "I'll be downstairs!" he called.

"Okay!" Gabriella shouted back. After getting dressed, she put on some simple yet attractive wedge-heeled sandals that were the same color as her top. She then proceeded to go downstairs, where Troy was sitting on the sofa with the TV on. The news was just ending.

"You all ready, sweetheart?" Troy checked.

Gabriella nodded.

Troy stood up, about to turn the TV off, when the final news story of the day caught both his eye and Gabriella's.

"Gabriella Montez, the singer that's becoming more and more popular by the day, was seen going inside a house Friday night with Troy Bolton, the new Lakers' player. She looked like she had just gotten out of a pig pen," the news reporter announced.

Gabriella's mouth dropped open. "How?" she gasped as a photo of her and Troy getting out of Troy's car was shown on the screen.

"And she has also been there for two nights now. No one knows what kind of things went on, but Bolton's parents appear not to be home, so whatever happened can't be anything good. Two young adults sleeping over with one another and no older adults in the house spells unquestionable trouble."

"Troy..." Gabriella began, tears filling her eyes.

Troy walked over to Gabriella and pulled her into a hug. "I don't know how they know about us, but I bet it's something to do with those idiots called 'paparazzi.'"

"Why did they have to pick _us_, though? Why not stalk some more popular celebrities? Oh, this is awful! I-I thought this could be kept a secret, but..."

"I know, I know," Troy murmured sympathetically, nuzzling his nose into Gabriella's dark hair.

For a moment, Troy and Gabriella both stood there, in the living room, embracing each other. The only sound that could be heard were Gabriella's soft whimpers and sobs.

"Do you still want to go out?" Troy ventured after a couple minutes.

"Why wouldn't I? There's no use trying to keep this a secret now. Everyone in America knows what went on between us. And the most embarrassing part of it is that people will guess-and guess correctly, too-about what happened those two nights. Oh, and we aren't even dating! And then the car accident? People are going to think I was drunk or something Friday night!"

"It'll be okay; I promise," Troy assured, fingering Gabriella's hair. "Now, let's just go out and try to take our minds off of this." He grabbed Gabriella's hand and led her to the front door. When he opened it, he was in for a unpleasant surprise.

About ten paparazzi with cameras and notepads were waiting on his porch.


	12. Rumors

By the time the week Gabriella was at Troy's house was over, there were many embarrassing and horrifying rumors going around. Once she left his house, they increased. The paparazzi had somehow concluded that Gabriella was getting together with Troy for publicity and that Troy was too blind to realize it. They said that Gabriella was taking a break from her career because she would rather 'be lazy at a Lakers' house.' When she left and not returned for three weeks, they had assumed she was 'bored of having sex with Troy and ready to move on to a guy who's better in bed.'

Upon hearing the rumor about why she left Troy's place, Gabriella had laid on her hotel bed and sobbed. Didn't the stupid paparazzi realize that her job required traveling? Why couldn't they just leave her alone? Finally, not being able to take it anymore, she called Troy.

"Hey, honey," Troy answered.

"Hey," Gabriella returned sadly.

"What's the matter?"

"The rumors that are going around," Gabriella replied. "I hate how the paparazzi are making me seem like a player. My sister has called and left the nastiest messages because of it, I get questioned every time I walk out the door, and-oh, it's just too much to take!" Gabriella started to sob uncontrollably.

"Hey, hey, sweetheart, calm down. Where are you now?"

"Washington, D.C."

"Listen; I'll come there with you. I'll travel with you wherever you go until basketball season starts. Okay? Don't worry. I won't leave you. I'll help you get through this. I'll start packing now, and leave on the next plane. What hotel are you at?"

Normally, Gabriella would insist Troy didn't have to travel all the way to Washington, D.C., but at the moment she wanted him to hold and comfort her so badly, she didn't protest. Instead, she just told him the name of her hotel, thanked him for offering to come there, and said 'bye.'

* * *

When Troy arrived at the hotel, Gabriella threw herself into his arms and began to bitterly weep. She hadn't had a shoulder to cry on since she had left California, so she was immensely grateful for the company.

"Hey, sweetie, don't cry. It breaks my heart to see you so upset," Troy soothed, lifting Gabriella off the floor and into his arms, where he held her like a toddler.

Gabriella buried her face in Troy's shoulder, continuing to let her tears pour out of her eyes and onto the material of Troy's shirt, not saying anything.

Troy took Gabriella over to her bed where he laid her down, tucked her in, and then got in next to her, being sure to snuggle close to her body, which was shaking from her crying so hard. He knew that she just needed time to let out her tears, so he didn't try to coax her into talking to him. He just stroked her hair and kissed her cheeks, murmuring loving words to her.

"T-Troy," Gabriella finally spoke after about fifteen minutes. "I-It's awful."

"I know, I know," Troy comforted. "The paparazzi are a bunch of jerks. They said awful things about you."

"A-And that's not the worst of it," Gabriella continued.

"What do you mean?"

Gabriella took deep breaths, forcing herself to remain calm. However, she just burst into tears again.

"It's okay. Don't tell me about it right now. Wait until you're feeling a bit better. Just relax." Troy took Gabriella into his arms. As he did, he caught a glimpse of who was looking through the window, of which the curtains were drawn back to let in light. The paparazzi. "Um, Gabriella..."

"What?"

"Excuse me for a minute." Troy got out of bed, walked briskly over to the window, and, opening it, shouted, "Get out of my girlfriend's life, you idiots!" After that, he slammed the window shut and yanked the curtains across it.

"The paparazzi were spying on me through the window?" Gabriella asked, astounded.

Troy nodded. "Yeah. From now on, I would suggest making sure the curtains are closed before you shower or get dressed, alright? We don't need them seeing things they shouldn't see."

"Okay."

Just then, the window began rattling. Apparently it had been unlocked, the paparazzi had opened it, and were trying to hear what was going on between Troy and Gabriella.

Troy rushed over to the window again, closed it, and locked it. "There. Now no one should get in here." He went to Gabriella and laid down with her a second time. "I hate those paparazzi. They're just a bunch of losers that couldn't get a better job than lying stalkers."

Gabriella nodded in agreement and began clinging to Troy.

"What's the matter?" Troy questioned, hugging Gabriella in return.

"I missed you so much," Gabriella replied in a soft tone.

"I missed you, too," Troy said, leaning in to press his lips onto Gabriella's.

Gabriella returned Troy's kiss, not pulling away until breathing became difficult for her. "Troy, you don't know how much you mean to me. It's so sweet of you to come all the way out here just to be with me."

"What else could I do? I mean; I wanted to comfort you. Hearing how sad you sounded, I just couldn't ignore the problem," Troy responded, placing his head on top of Gabriella's and kissing it.

For the longest time, Troy and Gabriella just laid there in bed, holding onto each other. Finally, it became late, and Troy noticed that Gabriella's eyelids looked droopy. "Sweetheart," he started.

"Hm?" Gabriella acknowledged.

"Do you wanna get ready for bed?" Troy asked.

Gabriella nodded slowly and crawled out of Troy's arms, going into the bathroom to brush her teeth and get changed. When she was finished those tasks, she went back to Troy and snuggled against him. "Good night," she murmured.

"Good night," Troy returned, kissing Gabriella's cheek. He then watched her as she closed her tired eyes and fell fast asleep. She looked like an angel to him, appearing so innocent and untroubled. Troy smiled and kissed her cheek a second time before going to sleep himself.

* * *

The next morning, Gabriella woke up to find Troy not beside her anymore. "Troy?" she called. "Troy? Where are you?"

Just then, Troy walked out of the bathroom. "I just needed to go to the bathroom, honey. Don't worry." He got underneath the covers with her and pulled her close. "Do you want me to get you some breakfast in bed? Since you're upset, I kind of want to spoil you."

"That sounds nice," Gabriella smiled. "And I don't even have another performance until tomorrow. Today would be a perfect day for getting spoiled." She giggled.

"Yeah, it would. If you want me to, I'll go get your breakfast now, and then when you're done eating, I can rub your feet, and after that, you can have a hot bubble bath." Troy knew how much Gabriella liked taking bubble baths, especially when they were hot.

"Mmmm, this day sounds wonderful," Gabriella said.

"And then for tonight, I'll go rent some movies for us to watch. When they're over, and if you're not too sleepy, we can have fun with each other."

Gabriella giggled. "I'll never be too tired to show you how much I love you," she murmured lovingly, staring straight into Troy's ocean-colored eyes.

"You're a sweetheart," Troy responded as he pressed his lips to Gabriella's small nose. "Now, let me go get you breakfast and rent movies. I'll be back in about half an hour. Do you think you'll be alright?"

Gabriella nodded.

"Alright. Well, bye." With a tender embrace, Troy got his shoes on and left.

* * *

Troy handed a tray containing bacon, eggs, and toast to Gabriella, who took it with a smile and a 'thank you' and began to eat. "Want any?" she offered.

Troy shook his head. "No, thanks. I'm good. I went through a McDonald's drive-thru on the way to get your breakfast and the movies. I got the egg, cheese, and bacon biscuit."

"That sounds good," Gabriella commented.

"It is. It's my favorite thing to get at McDonald's. Well, for breakfast anyway."

Gabriella giggled. "Hey, I was wondering something."

"Yeah?" Troy acknowledged.

"Instead of me taking a bath soon after I'm done eating, can we both take one at night-together-and then make love after that?" Gabriella wanted to know. "I promise I'll try not to be too shy about my body this time." Her cheeks turned bright red.

"I like that idea," Troy spoke. "And I don't mind if you're a little shy. I actually find it adorable. Also, we don't have to keep the lights on in the bathroom. We can have them off, and I can go get candles or something so we'll have just a tiny bit of light. Besides, that way it would seem more romantic."

"You have the best ideas," Gabriella smiled, resting her cheek on Troy's shoulder.

* * *

That evening, Troy and Gabriella were relaxing side-by-side in the bathtub, Gabriella leaning against Troy.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" Troy asked, playing with Gabriella's dark curls.

"I'm average, Troy. I'm not that beautiful," Gabriella replied.

"You are so." Troy put his hand under Gabriella's chin and gently lifted her face so that she was looking at him. "You're the most gorgeous, incredibly beautiful girl. When I used to think about having a girlfriend, I never dreamed that she would be as lovely as you are."

Gabriella blushed. "Well, you probably won't think that in-in..."

"In what?" Troy wondered as Gabriella began to stutter.

"In...um..." Suddenly, Gabriella burst into tears. Getting out of the tub, she wrapped a towel around her body, then walked out of the bathroom and flung herself onto the hotel bed, still sobbing.

A minute later, Troy also exited the bathroom. He sat down next to Gabriella and rubbed her back. "What's the matter?"

"I-It's horrible news," Gabriella cried, crawling into Troy's lap. She felt his strong arms wrap around her, blocking out the cold air from the air conditioner that was hitting her still wet skin.

"What is it?"

"D-Do you promise not to tell a-anyone about it if I-I tell you?" Gabriella took one of her hands and dried her tears. "Not even my parents or your parents?"

"I promise."

Gabriella began to cry again.

"What's wrong?" Troy became nervous. What could possibly be this upsetting?

"I-I'm not dying or anything. A-And I don't have any dangerous diseases."

Troy relaxed a little. "Then what is it? Please tell me."

"Troy?" Gabriella looked her boyfriend in the eye.

"Yeah?"

"I'm pregnant."


	13. Feeling Sick

Troy tightened his grip on Gabriella and kissed her cheek, then her lips. "I'm going to be a father!" he exclaimed quietly, a huge smile spreading across his face. "Oh, this isn't horrible news! This is great news!" He kissed Gabriella a second time.

Gabriella, however, was still in tears. "B-But the paparazzi. T-They'll make up stories about me. W-When they ask m-me who's b-baby i-it is and I say it's y-yours, they'll say I-I'm lying. This is t-terrible."

"Honey, I'll stay with you through this. We'll both bear the rumors together."

"But I don't wanna be pregnant. I don't want to have a baby. I just want to carry on with my career in peace. If I have a baby, I won't be able to sing, and even during my pregnancy I won't be able to perform. For the past two days, I've felt nauseous and yesterday morning, I threw up. And I lied to you; I was supposed to perform tonight, but I cancelled. I never had a day where I didn't have to sing. And now I don't know what to do. I was supposed to sing a second time tomorrow night, and I really don't know if I'll feel good enough. But I don't want to disappoint my fans again." She wiped her tears away, struggling to control her emotions.

"Sweetheart, you need to calm down. The feeling of sickness should pass eventually. But until it does, you need to cancel all your performances. Your fans don't wanna see you throw up on stage."

"But yesterday, after I found out I was pregnant, I looked some things up on my laptop about pregnancy. It said that sickness could last for the first three months. I don't want to not sing for three months! And after that, I'll start looking fat. No one wants to see a fat singer."

"You'll look more pregnant, not fatter," Troy corrected gently, caressing Gabriella's curls.

"And then after the baby's born, I'll have to take care of it!"

"Can't you get your parents to watch it for you? Whenever possible, you could go visit them so you could see your child. Or my parents could help out, since it's my baby, too. Just make sure that before you drop the him or her off somewhere, you have enough formula and diapers so no one has to go out and buy that stuff. If it's not costing them anything, then why would they mind looking after a grandson or granddaughter?"

"But I would feel guilty, Troy. I don't want my child to grow up hating me because I never took care of him or her when they were little. And what about you? If the baby was at my parents' house, you would never get to see it." Gabriella burst into tears again.

"Alright, well how about we get ready for bed and then finish this discussion?" Troy suggested. "For one, you probably want to get dressed, and for two, you look like you need a break from talking about this."

Gabriella nodded slowly and tearfully in acknowledgement.

After he dried himself off-which, like Gabriella, he had neglected to do in the bathroom, instead just fastening a towel around his waist and running to comfort his girlfriend-and got dressed, Troy held Gabriella on his lap. She seemed in too much misery to get ready by herself, so he decided to help her. To his surprise, she didn't protest at all when he undid her towel to get her dried off, although all the lights in the room were on. She didn't blush even a little bit when he lovingly commented on how beautiful she was as he gently fingered her breasts while drying them, or when he helped her get her underwear on.

"Are you okay?" Troy wondered as he tucked Gabriella into bed before crawling in beside her.

Gabriella shrugged. "I don't know."

Troy reached for the light switch, which was on the wall beside the bed, and turned the lights out. He then wrapped his arms around Gabriella and kissed her forehead. "Everything will turn out fine."

Gabriella sighed. "I wish you saying that made it easy to believe," she murmured as more tears spilled out of her eyes.

Troy pulled Gabriella closer to him, keeping silent. It wasn't long before he and Gabriella were both fast asleep.

**

* * *

**

"Good morning, beautiful," Troy greeted upon waking up the next morning, finding himself staring into Gabriella's troubled eyes, which were red and encrusted with dried tears as a result of her crying herself to sleep the night before. "So, how did you sleep?"

"Alright," Gabriella sighed.

"Just alright?"

"I'm worried," Gabriella confessed. "I mean, what will happen when this news gets out? It can't be kept a secret forever. Pretty soon, the paparazzi will see me buying maternity clothes and notice my growing stomach."

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do to make this whole thing go away. I wish I could, but the only thing I can do to help is to stay by your side and bear the embarrassment of rumors with you."

"You know, that will actually be a really nice thing for you to do, Troy. If we stay with each other, especially physically, the paparazzi will believe-hopefully-that the baby's yours." Gabriella smiled for the first time since she had told Troy she was pregnant.

"Aw, there's your smile," Troy remarked, kissing Gabriella's lips.

Gabriella giggled and returned Troy's kiss.

"So, what are you gonna do about your singing? Are you going to call your agent and tell him you're unable to for at least nine months because you're pregnant, or are you keeping it a secret until you can't any longer?"

"I guess I'm gonna have to call him and-" Gabriella broke off as she ran to the bathroom to throw up.

Troy, after a minute, followed his girlfriend. "Are you okay?" he wondered, going up behind her and pulling her long, loose hair into a ponytail with the hair tie that was lying on the counter.

Gabriella nodded as she coughed. However, right after that, she threw up for a second time.

"Oh, sweetie, I don't think you should be singing tonight. Or at all until you stop feeling sick."

"Can you call my agent?" Gabriella wondered. She felt too sick to even talk on the phone. "If you look in the contacts list of my cell phone, he's in there. His name's Ryan. Tell him I won't be able to sing tonight, or for at least three months. After I'm out of the first trimester, I should stop feeling so sick. I'll decide then-" She threw up yet again.

"Okay, I'll call him right away," Troy agreed as he left the bathroom to go find Gabriella's cell phone. Once it was found, he called Ryan and told him that Gabriella wouldn't be able to perform for at least three months due to a 'confidential reason.' He didn't dare mention her being pregnant, and luckily, Ryan didn't push him to spill the secret.

"Gabby," Troy announced as he hung up. "I told Ryan you couldn't perform for at least three months for confidential reasons. I didn't tell him you were pregnant."

Gabriella raised her head to look at Troy. "Thank you." She then grabbed a tissue and wiped her mouth before flushing the toilet. After that, she brushed her teeth for a full five minutes and used mouthwash to get rid of any germs that may have lingered after throwing up.

"Sweetheart, do you wanna rest?" Troy asked when Gabriella exited the bathroom. "Lie down in bed."

"I'm exhausted," Gabriella moaned as she plopped down onto the bed and pulled the covers over her. She was then out like a light.

**

* * *

**

"Honey?" Troy said, gently shaking Gabriella. She had been sleeping for over two hours, and he was beginning to worry. "Sweetheart, wake up."

Gabriella's eyes opened halfway. "Hm?" she acknowledged, stretching.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright," Troy replied. "You were asleep for over two hours."

"Yeah; I'm fine." Gabriella yawned. "I feel better than I did earlier."

"That's good to hear." Troy smiled. "Now, do you wanna go back to my house? If you think you'll be alright in the plane, we can fly back today. I just don't really want you to have to hang out in a boring hotel room for three months straight."

"Well, since you're here, it's not boring, but still. I would like to go to a real home."

"Alright. I'll see when the next flight to California is. I'm thinking it would be good to leave today, just so the hotel bill doesn't accumulate to an excessively high price."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

* * *

Late that night, Troy carried Gabriella inside his house, carried her upstairs, and ever so carefully tucked her in bed. After that, he got the luggage from his car and took it inside.

"Troy, what's going on?"

Troy turned around to see his mom. "Um, Gabriella's taking a little break from singing, and she wants to spend time with me, so I'm letting her stay here," he explained.

"I thought she had a bunch of performances coming up! And she just decided to quit?" Jack, who had just entered the room, said, joining in the conversation as he overheard his son's words.

"No! She's not quitting forever. She's just really stressed out and tired," Troy defended. "She needs a break."

"Well, where is she now?"

"In my room sleeping."

"You know, it's late, Troy. You'd better get to bed, too. You look exhausted," Lucille spoke.

"I am," Troy replied, heading upstairs with the suitcases in his hands. Once he reached his room, he dropped the luggage in a corner and climbed into bed next to Gabriella, kissing her cheek before falling to sleep himself.

* * *

When Troy awoke the next morning, he found Gabriella missing. Getting out of bed, he went to the bathroom and knocked on the closed door. "Gabriella? Are you in here?"

"Yeah," came Gabriella's weak reply.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm about to throw up," Gabriella answered.

"Other than that are you alright?"

"I still feel really nauseous, and I don't want to eat at all."

"Oh, well I'll be in my room. You can come talk to me when you're done in there."

"Okay."

Troy walked back to his room. About fifteen minutes later, Gabriella joined him, closing the door behind her so that Jack and Lucille wouldn't hear what she and Troy were talking about.

"Honey, I think you should go see a doctor," Troy told Gabriella. "You can't go on like this for three months, especially since you don't want to eat. You need to make sure you stay strong and healthy so that your baby will be strong and healthy and also so you have enough strength to give birth when the time comes."

"But the paparazzi," Gabriella protested.

"Sweetheart, they'll just think you're sick. They won't know you're pregnant. People go to the doctor for other reasons besides pregnancy."

"Troy, I can't go to a regular doctor."

"Why not?"

"They don't know enough about pregnancy. I would have to go see a gynecologist, and then probably go to the hospital sometime to get an ultra sound. The paparazzi will know what's going on if I go to both of those places."

"I don't know what to tell you, then. But you _need_ medical help. The sooner, the better."

"Troy, no. Not until I start to show. I don't want people to know about this before they have to."

"How long will that be?"

"I think I can hide it until at least the end of the third month, beginning of the fourth."

"But you can't go that long without getting checked out, Gabriella."

Gabriella started to cry as she grabbed a pillow and threw it at Troy. "Go away, idiot!" she shouted. You're not helping! I want to keep my secret for as long as possible. I won't go to a doctor. So just go away and leave me alone!"

Troy looked at Gabriella in shock. A moment ago she had been perfectly calm. Why all of a sudden was she turning on him and telling him to go away? Shrugging, he left the room, going downstairs to eat breakfast.

"Good morning, Troy," Lucille greeted. "Do you want some pancakes?"

"Sure, Mom," Troy mumbled, dejectedly, still upset after what had happened with Gabriella.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Troy replied, forcing himself to sound confident.

"Where's Gabriella?"

"Sleeping," Troy lied.

"Oh. Well, do you want to wake her up and see if she wants some pancakes while they're still hot? I made enough for her to have them."

"She's not feeling too well," Troy answered. "Her stomach hurts."

"Does she want some Jell-o? I made some the other day, and there's still a little left."

"I don't think so." Troy then changed the subject. "Where's Dad?"

"Work. It's nine o' clock, Troy."

"Oh. I guess I didn't realize that. Well, why aren't you at work if it's this late?"

"It's my day off."

"Oh." Troy put butter and syrup on his pancakes, ate them, then decided to go to the gym for basketball practice. That would most likely give Gabriella a good two or three hours to cool off.

**

* * *

**

When Troy got back from the gym, he went up to his room, where he found Gabriella in tears. "Are you still mad at me?" he wondered, staying back rather than hugging and kissing her in case she was angry.

"I-I thought you left me," Gabriella sobbed, making her way over to Troy and clinging to him. "W-When you didn't c-come back up h-here, I thought y-you abandoned me."

"Oh, no, sweetheart. I would never abandon you. I just went to the gym for a little bit to give you time to cool down a little. I didn't mean for it to make you upset." Troy dropped kisses onto his girlfriend's face. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Gabriella spoke, drying her tears with her hands, and then hugging Troy again.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," Troy started after a minute, "But what did I do that made you so mad this morning?"

"You didn't really do anything. You were just trying to take care of me. But I think you should know that when women are pregnant, they have mood swings, so if it ever happens again, I probably don't really mean to do that. I'm sorry for making you think I was really angry with you."

"I forgive you. I don't know anything about pregnancy, so I wasn't sure what was going on. But thanks for telling me."

"No problem. Now, there's something bad. I was watching the news while you were gone, and they were talking about me quitting my singing. And they also mentioned something about us in that hotel. They had pictures, too. It was awful. And they said you had a terrible temper because you yelled at the paparazzi for taking our picture."

"Well, let them think what they think about me. And about everyone knowing you're not singing for a little while, I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

"What is?"

"You being pregnant. I didn't even think to use protection when we made love those couple nights."

"But Troy, I didn't refuse to make love to you. I wasn't thinking about the consequences. It's not your fault."

"Then why do I feel so guilty? I mean, I put you in this pain and misery."

"No, you didn't."

Troy didn't say anything more. He just kissed Gabriella's forehead gently and held her close to him. However, he still couldn't ignore that feeling of guilt. He knew Gabriella's pregnancy was caused because of him. He knew she was throwing up and feeling nauseous because of him. And what really made him feel bad was that there was no way he could fix things.


	14. Doctor's Visit

A week had passed. Gabriella guessed she was about five weeks pregnant, which meant approximately seven to eight more weeks of feeling sick.

"Honey, you've barely even drank anything in the past week," Troy began as he offered Gabriella water one morning and she shook her head, claiming she didn't feel like drinking anything. Her actions were really worrying Troy. Over two days, she had only drank one water bottle, and that was under his force. She had only felt up to eating one day, and even then the only things she had were a slice of toast with jelly and some soup made of mostly broth.

"I really don't feel up to eating or drinking," Gabriella said.

"You need to go to the doctor," Troy told her.

"No, I don't. The paparazzi will find out and-" Gabriella got cut off as she threw up. Right on Troy's bed.

"This is why you need to go."

Tears spilled out of Gabriella's eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to."

"Sweetheart, don't worry about my bed. I don't care. It can be cleaned." Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead. "You just need to get up so I can take the blankets and sheets off of it."

"I don't feel like getting up," Gabriella whimpered.

"Listen. You need to. Why don't you go take a shower while I get these things washed? You haven't had one in three days."

"I don't feel up to it."

"Then do you want me to get a bath ready? Come on, Gabby, you have to get clean somehow. You have vomit on your top now-and in your hair. You need to get a change of clothes and wash up."

More tears fell down Gabriella's cheeks. "But I feel h-horrible."

"Honey, I don't want to be rude to you or anything, but you smell like vomit."

"You're mean," Gabriella complained, crying harder.

Troy sighed. He still wasn't used to the mood swings Gabriella was having. "I'm sorry. But you really do need to get clean. And while you're doing that, I'm calling a gynecologist. You need to get checked out." Troy's voice became firm after his apology.

"No! Troy, no! The paparazzi...I can't go get examined!" Gabriella protested.

"I'll tell those jerks off if they bother you. But you need to get a check-up to make sure everything's alright. Now come on; you have to get out of bed. I need to wash my blankets."

Gabriella moaned.

"Is it that bad?" Troy murmured as he finally decided to lift Gabriella into his arms and carry her to the bathroom. Once in the bathroom, he sat Gabriella on the closed toilet and started filling the bathtub with warm water.

"I have to throw up again," Gabriella announced miserably as she slid off the toilet and opened it. After she was finished throwing up, she didn't bother getting off the floor.

"Your bath is ready," Troy told Gabriella a couple minutes later.

"I don't feel like getting up," Gabriella groaned. "My stomach hurts so bad."

"Well again, that's why we're going to get you checked out later. But first, you need to be clean." Troy offered Gabriella his hand. When she took it, he pulled her up, and once she was standing, he kissed her cheek.

Gabriella hugged Troy, burying her face in his chest.

"I'm here," Troy assured softly, kissing the top of Gabriella's head. "Now how about you take your bath before the water gets cold?"

Gabriella reluctantly let go of Troy and sat down on the toilet. "Do you have a towel for me to use?"

Troy went to the bathroom closet and grabbed a large, fluffy towel. He then handed it to Gabriella. "Here you go. I'm gonna give you your privacy now. Call me if you need anything. And try to relax in the tub a little bit, too after you wash up."

Gabriella nodded in understanding.

"Oh, can I have your shirt to wash with my bedding? I just want to get all the vomited-on things cleaned at one time."

Gabriella nodded again and turned her back to Troy so he couldn't see anything. She then removed her shirt and tossed it behind her.

"Thanks. I'm gonna leave now." Troy grabbed the dirty top, then exited the bathroom. After scrubbing as much of the vomit off his covers as he could and spraying both Gabriella's shirt and his blankets with stain remover, he took everything to the washer and started a wash on hot water.

**

* * *

**

"Gabriella?" Troy asked, knocking on the bathroom door. Two hours had gone by, and Gabriella was still in the bathroom.

No reply came.

Troy tried knocking again. When he still didn't recieve an answer, he opened the door and saw Gabriella leaning against the side of the tub, fast asleep. It didn't look like she had even washed up, as her hair still looked dirty. "Gabriella?" Troy closed the door behind him as he went over to his girlfriend and gently shook her shoulder.

Gabriella's eyes opened halfway to look at Troy. "Hm?"

"You've been in here for two hours."

"I'm sorry," Gabriella apologized sleepily. A big yawn followed her words.

Troy grabbed the bottle of shampoo from the side of the tub. "Here; lean back in the water to get your hair wet, then I'll help you wash. I called the local gynecologist, and you have an appointment in an hour."

"I don't want to go," Gabriella complained while listening to Troy.

"I know, but you have to," Troy spoke as he massaged shampoo into his girlfriend's hair.

"I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"I don't want to have to undress in front of a stranger. I still get nervous doing it in front of you, even."

"Sweetheart, I made sure the doctor's a girl, so you don't have to worry about feeling uncomfortable with a guy seeing you. And the doctor-she'll just exam you and make sure you're alright. She won't stare at you or anything."

"Thanks, but I'll still be a little uncomfortable with the whole thing, especially if she has to touch my private parts or I have to talk about them. That's just a little too personal for me."

Troy, who was finished washing Gabriella, grabbed her towel and, after she stood up, wrapped her in it and lifted her into his arms. "Mmmm, you smell good," he commented, carrying her out of the bathroom and back to his room. "And about the doctor-she'll probably just talk to you about the giving birth process and ask you if you have any questions about it. I'm not sure, though, because I'm a guy, so you'll just have to wait until we get there to see. I just hope she won't do anything you're not comfortable with."

"But I'll be too embarrassed to ask questions."

Troy shut the door of his room and sat on his bed-which he had just made before going in the bathroom-with Gabriella on his lap. "I know, you're really shy. And I think it's absolutely adorable."

"I hate being shy," Gabriella whimpered.

"There's nothing wrong with it. Now, how about you get dried off and dressed so we can get going?"

**

* * *

**

When Troy and Gabriella walked out the front door, they were, unfortunately, greeted by the paparazzi.

"Back off," Troy demanded, keeping a tight grip on Gabriella's hand, which was in his.

"Why has Gabriella been hiding inside for week?" one man demanded.

"Where are you taking her?" asked another.

Troy ignored the paparazzi and took Gabriella to his car. After both he and she got in, he drove to the gynecologist. He didn't think the paparazzi had followed him. "Alright," he started as he pulled into a parking space. "Let's go get this over with."

Gabriella, who was becoming more nervous by the second, grabbed Troy's hand as she walked inside with him. She only had time to fill out the required paperwork before she was called back to a room for her examination.

"Hi, Gabriella, I'm Dr. Greene," a cheerful young doctor greeted with a smile. "And hi, Troy." She added, looking at Troy. "I'm excited to watch you play for the Lakers this season. They need to win the championship this year, and I've heard good reports about your basketball skills."

"Thanks," Troy responded.

"Okay, now Gabriella, how do you feel? I guess not too good if you won't be singing for a while."

"Yeah. I really feel horrible."

"How?"

"I'm nauseous all the time and I throw up at least once a day. I never feel like eating-or even drinking."

"Well, I have some pills you can take to help with that. We can discuss those in a little bit. For now, why don't you take your shoes off and step on that scale in the corner of the room?"

"Okay." Gabriella listened to Dr. Greene.

After recording Gabriella's weight and taking her blood pressure, Dr. Greene told her patient to sit next to Troy in one of the two chairs-besides the doctor's chair-in the room. "So, when did you first find out you were pregnant?"

"A couple weeks ago."

"Okay."

After a few more questions, the doctor announced that Gabriella's due date would be April 4 of the following year. Then, she proceeded to ask Gabriella about her health history. When she was finished with that, she informed Gabriella of all the pregnancy side effects and other things she should know about being pregnant. She was given a pamphlet about all the information she had just been told.

"Now," Dr. Greene said, "I just have to do a few tests on you. You'll get checked for Rubella, Varicella, HBsAg, and STDs. You'll also need a urinalysis and a type and screen blood test. I'll also need to check your heart, lungs, and breasts to make sure everything's normal. Troy can stay in the room if he wants, but the tests aren't the most pleasant things to watch, so if he would rather leave, he can."

"Do you want me to stay?" Troy asked Gabriella.

Gabriella nodded. She was a little nervous about getting all the tests she needed. Well, except for her heart being checked. She had gotten that done plenty of times at physicals when she was younger.

"I'll stay, then," Troy decided.

**

* * *

**

After Gabriella got all her tests done, the doctor told her she also wanted to perform an ultra sound that day, since Gabriella hadn't been getting enough to eat or drink lately. She said it was to make sure the baby was alright.

"Are you gonna do it here or do I have to get it done at the hospital?" Gabriella wondered.

"We have an ultra sound room here I'm doing it in."

"Oh, okay."

"So get dressed again and then I'll take you there."

After Gabriella finished getting dressed, she and Troy followed Dr. Greene to a large room with a table in the middle.

"Lie down on the table," Dr. Greene told Gabriella.

Gabriella listened.

The doctor pulled up Gabriella's shirt a little and spread some gel over her stomach. She then began the ultra sound. "There's your baby," she said as the picture appeared on the screen which was next to the table Gabriella was on. "I can't tell the gender yet, though."

"It's so tiny," Gabriella murmured. "Troy, look."

Troy looked at his unborn child. "Wow, that's amazing," he commented lovingly as he took Gabriella's hand and stroked it gently with his thumb.

"It looks a bit small for you being five weeks pregnant," Dr. Greene told Gabriella. "You should really be eating more. I'll get a prescription for those morning sickness pills sent into the nearest pharmacy so you can pick those up later this evening and start on them tomorrow. Remember, you need to keep your strength up."

"Will the baby be alright, though?" Gabriella asked anxiously.

"It should be. I'll do another ultra sound after you get your strength back, and then I'll tell you for sure."

"Okay."

After Gabriella was finished with the ultra sound, she and Troy thanked the doctor, paid for the visit, and went back home. Unfortunately, the paparazzi had been stalking them the whole time they were gone. Troy and Gabriella both knew that because as they pulled into Troy's driveway, the paparazzi pulled in behind them.

"Troy," Gabriella whimpered. "I think they know." She burst into tears.

Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella. "It's okay. It's alright," he soothed, rubbing her back gently. "We'll get through this."


	15. An Unexpected Move

Gabriella flung herself into Troy's arms, sobbing. She had just read the celebrity section in the newspaper, and discovered that the paparazzi must have reported their true theory regarding her pregnancy. Right in large print, easily visible to anyone the second they turned to the celebrity segment, was the headline: GABRIELLA MONTEZ PREGNANT. In the article, it said 'it's unknown whether the baby is Troy's or someone else's.'

To make matters worse, Gabriella had received a phone call from her mother not too long ago. And for once in her life, Maria had been angry with her daughter. She had told her that, since she was having a baby before marriage, she was making both herself and David look like bad parents. She had told Gabriella that she wasn't welcome at home because of the trail of paparazzi that would follow her and question the rest of the Montez family.

"It's alright," Troy soothed, rubbing his girlfriend's back. "I still love you."

"I-I know," Gabriella cried. "I-It's just my parents...I've a-always been really c-close to them, and n-now..."

"Shhh, shhh, don't cry, sweetheart," Troy said, kissing Gabriella's cheek. "Everything will turn out fine; I promise you. Just settle down and rest." Since they were sitting on Troy's bed, Troy laid Gabriella beside him and tucked the covers around her. "A nap should do you some good."

"T-Take one with m-me," Gabriella pleaded, her small hand clutching Troy's strong arm.

"Okay, I will," Troy agreed, lying beside Gabriella and holding her close.

* * *

That evening, after both of Troy's parents were home from work, Jack approached Troy, who was getting a bowl of chips to share with Gabriella. His face had a stern, unfriendly appearance, unlike his usual, relaxed expression. Lucille was right beside him, disappointment written all over her face.

"Troy, your mother and I need to talk to you," Jack spoke in a tone that was both quiet and serious.

"Come into the living room and sit down," Lucille added.

Troy, completely nonplussed, followed his parents to the sofa, where he sat down in between them.

"We heard that Gabriella's pregnant," Jack started.

"Yeah," Troy confirmed casually.

"Is it your baby?" Lucille questioned.

Troy nodded. "Yes; it is my baby."

"Why would you do something like this?" Jack demanded, his voice raising as anger raged inside of him. "Your mother and I taught you to be a responsible person, and I thought we did a good job. But apparently we didn't. If we did, you would have used protection-or, better yet, not even have had sex in the first place."

"I don't believe in sex outside of marriage," Lucille put in. "It's not smart. What if Gabriella would now dump you and never let you in the baby's life? What if you would find someone better that you would want to be with? You two never made a commitment to one another. You don't know what could happen. If you were married, you would have made commitments, and that marriage certificate would increase your chances of staying together."

"I'm not sorry," Troy responded boldly.

"I had a feeling you wouldn't be," Jack said. "And your mother and I were prepared for that answer."

"You need to get out of here," Lucille told her son. "You made a huge mistake, and now people in all fifty states will think of your father and I as bad parents. The paparazzi will be filming us and labeling us as stupid. We can't live like that. You and your girlfriend need to get out of here within the next twenty-four hours."

Troy gasped in shock. "But where will we go? Her parents are acting like you guys, so there's no way we'll be able to stay at her house. Please, Mom, please, Dad."

"Figure it out yourself. It's your problem. And her parents are smart to do that. It'll teach her a lesson; one just like the lesson you're getting."

"But-"

"Stop," Jack ordered. "Go start packing. It's seven o' clock now. By the same time tomorrow evening, I don't want you or your pathetic little brat to be anywhere on our property."

"Gabriella's not a brat!" Troy protested, his sweaty hands clenched into two tight fists.

"Oh, I could think of worse things to call her."

"You wouldn't dare," Troy yelled, storming up to his room, where he found Gabriella resting under his covers while watching a movie.

"Hey, Troy," Gabriella greeted. "Want to watch Finding Nemo with me?" Even though that movie was probably supposed to be for kids, Gabriella still liked it.

"I can't, sweetheart," Troy answered. "I have to start packing."

"Packing? Why?" Gabriella turned her full attention to Troy.

"Our parents are kicking us out. We need to be gone within twenty-four hours."

"B-But where will we go?" Just as Troy had silently predicted, tears began to gather in his girlfriend's eyes.

Troy shrugged. "I don't know."

Gabriella got off the bed and began folding her clothes neatly so they could all fit into one of her suitcases. "I-I don't know why everyone hates us now."

"My parents thought we were stupid for having sex without protection, and also outside of marriage. They said it made them look like they didn't raise me properly."

"Just like my mom and dad," Gabriella mumbled sadly.

Troy sighed.

"You know what?" Gabriella started. "I caused all this trouble. I'm sorry."

"Oh, no! We're in this together, and neither of us caused a problem. We just love each other, and there's nothing wrong with being in love."

Gabriella didn't say anything else. She just continued getting her things together as sorrowful tears flowed down her cheeks.

* * *

The next morning, Troy and Gabriella got themselves ready, then finished packing and loaded their things into Troy's car. Gabriella would have a car to use, too, but whenever she went on a plane trip, she always ended up renting one, and since she had started living with Troy, she had returned the car she had been using after all the damages from her accident were repaired.

"Are you ready to go?" Troy inquired as he slid into the driver's seat.

Gabriella nodded while climbing in beside Troy.

"Here come the paparazzi, as usual," Troy announced as his car became surrounded by a large group of men.

Gabriella shrank down in her seat, trying her hardest not to be seen. However, she failed. The paparazzi had already noticed her there and were banging on the car window.

Troy beeped his horn in an attempt to get the paparazzi away so he could leave the driveway. Fortunately, they hurried back to their own cars. However, once Troy was in the road, they began following him.

"Where are we going?" Gabriella asked.

"I guess a hotel," Troy shrugged. "Though we probably will only be able to get a room rather than a suite. Once basketball season starts, though, I'll get some cash and we might even be able to rent an apartment."

"I have some money from that little bit of time I was singing," Gabriella reminded Troy. "We can use some of that, too."

"Thanks," Troy smiled. "That'll be helpful right now, because even the smallest hotel rooms are expensive; same with the smallest apartments. We'll need all the money we can get."

* * *

Troy and Gabriella entered their new "home." It contained a medium-sized room with one bed, a sofa, and a TV, and one small bathroom that contained only a shower, toilet, and sink.

"I guess this will do," Troy said, sighing.

"Yeah," Gabriella agreed. "But unfortunately, the paparazzi know we're here."

"I know," Troy groaned, recalling the half hour it had taken him and Gabriella just to check into the hotel and take their luggage from the car to their room.

Gabriella plopped down onto the bed. "What will we do for meals?"

"Go out to eat, I guess," Troy shrugged. "If we would have been able to get a suite, we would've gotten a kitchen, too, and then we wouldn't need to be worrying about this, but we couldn't, so..."

"Yeah. Well, that's okay."

Troy laid down beside Gabriella. "I still wish we could've stayed at my place-well, technically, my parent's place. It would have been a lot more comfortable for you. The bed would be more home-like, you wouldn't have to leave the house to eat, and bathroom would be bigger."

Gabriella giggled. "What does a big bathroom have to do with anything?"

"You would have more room to do your hair and make-up," Troy replied.

"That would be nice, but we have what we have, I guess."

Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella and kissed her forehead. "Well, what really matters is that we're together. As long as we have each other, we can get through anything and everything."

"Yeah. I don't know what I would do without you."

Troy kissed the top of Gabriella's head. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Gabriella returned, resting her head on Troy's chest.

After sharing a sweet, yet passionate kiss, Troy and Gabriella got off the bed and began to unpack their things. It wasn't going to be easy living in a hotel room-especially one surrounded by paparazzi-but if that was what they had to do, they would put up with it. They would both do whatever it took to stay with one another.

* * *

**Just to let you all know, I'm working on a oneshot that might turn into a twoshot. I'll probably be posting it either tomorrow or Friday. It won't be in my oneshot collection, though, because it will probably turn into a twoshot.**


	16. Complications

The next morning, Troy and Gabriella awoke to find themselves surrounded by unusual things. A new color walls, a different dresser, a smaller TV, and unfamiliar covers. It took them a moment to think before they remembered that they had needed to move into the hotel room.

"So, how did you sleep last night?" Troy wondered, lacing his fingers with his girlfriend's.

"Pretty good," Gabriella replied. "I have to admit, your bed was a bit more comfortable, but this one wasn't too bad."

"Yeah, I feel the same way."

"Is it okay if I shower now or did you need to use the bathroom?" Gabriella inquired.

"No, I don't need to use the bathroom. Go ahead and shower."

Gabriella got out of bed and went into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she returned to the room Troy was in with a towel the only thing covering her body and tears slipping down her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Troy questioned, concerned, as he noticed that Gabriella was crying.

"I-I'm starting t-to show," Gabriella sobbed.

"Aw, it's not that terrible, is it? Sweetheart, the paparazzi-unfortunately-already know you're pregnant. Even if you weren't starting to show, people would still already know about it."

"B-But I-I'm getting u-ugly," Gabriella protested.

"You are not getting ugly," Troy gently disagreed, walking up to Gabriella and embracing her. "You're just getting more beautiful."

"I-I'm gonna l-look fat, t-though."

"Not fat, pregnant," Troy corrected.

After spending a few minutes calming herself, Gabriella asked, "Troy, can you go get your shower now so that I can get dressed in private? I don't want you to see me. You'll be disappointed."

"No, I wouldn't. I would think you were beautiful. But if you want me to give you privacy, then I will. Just remember that, just because you're pregnant, doesn't mean you're any less gorgeous than you were when I first met you." After placing a soft kiss onto Gabriella's lips, Troy disappeared into the bathroom.

**

* * *

**

A month passed. Troy and Gabriella were getting along fine with the exception of being mobbed every time they set foot outside their hotel room, which they referred to as their 'safe place.'

"Are you ready to go to the doctor?" Troy wanted to know. Since Gabriella had been eating more and throwing up less, it was time for her to see Dr. Greene again.

"I guess," Gabriella answered.

"Okay, well, I'm ready, too."

Troy and Gabriella opened the door to their hotel room. As usual, they were greeted by a group of paparazzi, their eyes becoming nearly blinded with bright camera lights.

"Where are you going?" one of the paparazzi questioned.

"Is your baby a boy or a girl?" another one wanted to know.

Troy took Gabriella's hand and led her through the crowd. Once they finally managed to get out to Troy's car, they began their trip.

* * *

"Okay," Dr. Greene began when Troy and Gabriella were in the examination room. "Let's get started. Gabriella, how are you feeling?"

"Much better than last time," Gabriella answered.

After a few more questions, the doctor took Gabriella into the ultra sound room, Troy coming along, also. When she was done with the ultra sound procedure, she announced that Gabriella's baby appeared to be perfectly healthy. Troy and Gabriella were both happy about that news, and they left the office with smiles on their faces. However, on the car ride home, the smiled faded.

"Um, Gabriella...I totally forgot about this, but next week I need to leave to go practice with the Lakers for the upcoming basketball season," Troy announced hesitantly.

"B-But what will I do?" Heavy tears gathered in Gabriella's eyes.

"I don't know," Troy replied. "I'm trying to figure that out. I would love to take you with me, but practice only lasts for a few weeks, and after that, I'll need to start traveling. A lot. And I'm not sure how you feel about always moving around to different places while you're pregnant."

Gabriella didn't reply. She just sat there in the car beside Troy and sobbed. When they reached the hotel, she managed to control herself long enough to get inside her and Troy's room so that the paparazzi wouldn't suspect anything. However, as soon as the door was shut and locked behind her, she shouted, "I HATE being pregnant!"

"Honey, calm down," Troy soothed.

"And I hate you, too," Gabriella continued. "You got me pregnant, and now you're just gonna ditch me! This isn't fair, Troy! Your parents were right. You should've used protection, or we shouldn't have even had sex in the first place! You are stupid!" She yanked one of the drawers belonging to the room's dresser open and started pulling her clothes from it.

"What are you doing?" Troy questioned.

"Leaving."

"But you can't leave!"

"Yes, I can. I've had it with you. I can't believe you did this to me! Now I'm gonna be fat, ugly, and held back from my job for a couple of years until this baby grows up enough to be put in day care without bawling its eyes out the whole time!"

Troy was astonished at Gabriella's words. "Sweetheart, listen. If you leave me, there will be more bad rumors that will start going around. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Sighing a raged sigh, Gabriella threw the clothing she had taken from the drawer back into it and slammed it shut. "I guess. But I still wish all this never happened. And just to tell you now, I'm thinking of putting the baby up for adoption after it's born. I don't want to get an abortion, as that would be murdering our child, but I just don't want to be a mother."

"_Adoption?_ Gabriella, you can't be serious!"

"I need to get on with my life."

"What about me? I'm the father. Don't I have a right to help make a choice about the baby's future? And I want to keep it. I want to be a dad. Don't take that privilege away from me, please."

"Fine, if you want it, you can have it."

"Okay. But I still think you're being selfish by not even considering your poor child. He or she will never know his or her mother because she would rather sing than take responsibility for a baby."

Suddenly, Gabriella realized what she had been saying. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I-I do w-want t-the b-baby. I-I just g-got a-angry. I-I didn't m-mean a-anything I-I just s-said. I-I'm a h-horrible m-mother already."

Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella's waist and held her close to him. "It's okay. The baby will forgive you. And we'll work together to take care of our child. I'll take time off from basketball for it. That way, it'll be fair. Does that sound good?"

Sniffling, Gabriella lifted her eyes to Troy's and nodded.

_Seven more months of this,_ Troy thought to himself with a suppressed groan.

"Troy," Gabriella began.

"Yeah?" Troy acknowledged.

"Make love to me, please."

A smile slowly spread across Troy's face as he lifted Gabriella into his arms and laid her on the bed. He moved his hands to the bottom of her shirt, ready to pull it off, but Gabriella stopped him.

"Troy, no," she said. "You don't want to take that off. I'm ugly."

"Honey, listen to me. I'm sure you're beautiful," Troy comforted, taking both of Gabriella's hands in his and kissing her small nose.

"Please, just don't," Gabriella pleaded.

"Alright." Troy kissed the top of Gabriella's head.

* * *

An hour later, Troy and Gabriella were lying in bed. After making love, they had taken a shower together. But, of course, Gabriella changed into a bathing suit that covered her stomach, still not wanting Troy to see her upper body.

"You're beautiful," Troy told Gabriella, cuddling her close to him.

"No, I'm not. I'm not even attractive at all anymore," Gabriella cried.

"What are you talking about? You're gorgeous."

Gabriella shook her head. "You haven't seen me without a shirt on yet. And I don't let you see me like that for a reason. No guy wants to make love to someone who looks like they're getting fat."

"You're _pregnant,_ not fat," Troy corrected. He felt like he said those words about a hundred times a day.

"But-"

"No protesting. You're beautiful and that can never change. Deal with it." Troy placed a kiss on Gabriella's forehead and ran his fingers through her still damp hair. "Besides, I just saw how big your stomach was at the ultra sound today, and it didn't look that much bigger than it did a month ago."

"But it was dark in that room. You couldn't see very well."

"Still, I could see a little bit. And I didn't think you were ugly."

"Well, just wait until my regular clothes can't fit anymore."

"You'll still be beautiful."

"But I'll have to get huge pants that'll make me feel like my butt's huge," Gabriella complained. "And I'll have to get huge tops that are probably really baggy, and new underwear...I'll probably look like an old lady. The only thing I won't have to get are new shoes."

"First of all, why would you need new underwear, and secondly, why can't you find maternity clothes that you like? They can't all look like they're for old people. In fact, I doubt any of them would."

"I'm gonna need new underwear because I'll be too fat for the size I have now, and you're probably right about the clothes. I guess I'm just overreacting."

"Why does underwear matter?"

"Because it probably will be ugly, and then you won't want to make love to me anymore because I won't look attractive in it."

"Honey, I don't know why you're so worried about your underwear. All I'm gonna care about it getting it off so that I can make love to you."

"But you're not gonna want to make love to me if I have underwear that looks like it's for fat people."

"You're worrying about something that doesn't matter, Gabriella. You need to settle down."

Gabriella burst into tears. "B-But I-I'll be u-ugly."

"You will not. No matter what you wear, you'll be beautiful."

Gabriella buried her face in Troy's chest. "I-I feel bad for y-you."

"Why?" Troy questioned, kissing Gabriella's cheek.

"B-Because I-I'm getting e-embarrassed about l-looking pregnant and I-I always have to l-leave my shirt o-on when w-we make l-love, and you can't s-shower properly with m-me because I-I won't get i-in without a b-bathing suit."

"Sweetheart, it doesn't matter. I still love you. And you never have to leave your shirt on, you're just more comfortable that way, and as long as you're comfortable, I'm happy. You're just a little self-conscious right now since this is your first time being pregnant and all, and you don't like the way your body's changing, but you're still beautiful and special to me."

"I-I feel u-ugly."

"Well, remember what the doctor said? She told you that everything will go back to normal a little while after you give birth. You might gain a little weight, but that's it. You won't be nearly as big as you will be when you're nine months pregnant."

"I-I don't w-want to gain w-weight," Gabriella sobbed.

"It'll be fine."

"N-No it w-won't. I-I'll have f-fat c-covering my stomach, m-my butt will b-be huge, and my f-face will look c-chubby."

"Honey, you're not gaining one hundred pounds!"

"But s-still..."

Troy sighed as placed a comforting kiss onto Gabriella's lips. The remaining seven months of the pregnancy-plus the few months it would take Gabriella to lose her gained weight afterward-would be a lot harder than he had expected.

**

* * *

**

**Hey, I have the first part of a new twoshot posted. It's called **_**It's Like Catching Lightning.**_


	17. Heartbreaking News

"Do you think you're gonna be okay here?" Troy asked Gabriella, who was currently four months pregnant. It was finally time for him to leave so he could play his first away game. Gabriella, in the end, had moved with him to a hotel close to the Lakers' stadium, but had decided that she didn't want to go any further than that because of her required doctor's appointments and just the general fact that she was carrying a baby. So that day was the day Troy and Gabriella needed to say their good-byes.

Gabriella nodded. However, her eyes were glossing over with tears.

"It's only for a week, honey," Troy assured his girlfriend, taking her into his arms. "I'll be back before you know it. And I'll call you three times a day. I promise." He softly kissed her lips.

"Troy, you're going away for seven whole days, and you kiss me by just barely brushing your lips against mine?" Gabriella giggled as she stood on her tiptoes to begin a passionate lip lock with Troy.

Troy returned Gabriella's kiss before saying, "Good-bye, beautiful. I'll see you soon."

"Good-bye, handsome," Gabriella returned. "I'll miss you." A tear escaped from one of her eyes.

"I'll miss you, too," Troy said. "Just remember that I love you, alright?"

Gabriella nodded in agreement. "I will. And I love you, too."

After kissing one more time, Troy and Gabriella said good-bye to each other once more before Troy walked out the door, gazing at Gabriella with a longing look the entire time.

As the door shut, blocking Troy from Gabriella's view, Gabriella sank down onto the hotel bed room and sobbed. She hadn't wanted to cry real hard in front of Troy, as she knew it would only break his heart and maybe cause him to quit his job, but since he was now gone, she just had to let it all out. Even though it was only going to be a week, it would feel like a year. No one except Troy wanted to have anything to do with her. Not even her agent and stylist. They both were just enjoying the break they were receiving. After all, they were her employees, not her friends.

Gabriella looked down at her growing stomach and forced herself to smile. At least her baby would remind her of Troy. For the first time since she had gotten pregnant, she began to feel alright with her stomach becoming large. She suddenly didn't care that people wouldn't think she was as attractive as before. She was, in a way, carrying a part of Troy right with her, and that thought greatly soothed her.

* * *

"Hey, sweetheart," Troy greeted after answering his phone, which had displayed Gabriella's photo seconds ago as a sign that she was the one who was calling.

"Hey," Gabriella returned. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too," Troy said.

"How did you like your first Lakers' game?" Gabriella questioned.

"It was fun, but it would have been better if you were here with me. How are you doing?"

"Alright, I guess. I hate trying to get by the paparazzi alone, though, and being stuck in this hotel room with no one to talk to is really getting on my nerves."

"I'm sorry," Troy apologized. "I wish you didn't have to be so bored. Maybe you should've come with me."

"It's fine. I saw you on TV yesterday, which was pretty cool. I was cheering for you throughout the whole game."

"Thanks. It's always good to know that I have a fan. Especially one that's as beautiful as you are."

Gabriella giggled. "I'll always cheer for you."

"Aw, you're so sweet. You're so much better than the cheerleaders we have for the Lakers. All of them are so...I don't know what the word is...like they act friendly, but in a weird way. It's almost as if they're being forced to get along with us basketball players."

"They're fake. They're just putting on an act to hide who they really are."

"Fake! That's the word."

"Yeah."

"Well, I gotta go. The coach said we needed to work on some things tonight, and it's time for me to get to practice, so I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too, honey."

"Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

Gabriella turned on the TV. Three full days had passed since Troy's departure, and she was missing him more and more by the minute. She felt like she needed to call him every five minutes and at some points, she felt so lonely and bored she thought she would scream if she had to put up with that feeling for one more second.

"Now, we have some big news going on," a news reporter began. "The new Lakers' player, Troy Bolton, has a new girl! The paparazzi got some pictures of him kissing Lakers' cheerleader Christina Marks yesterday evening after the game."

Gabriella's eyes overflowed with tears as photos of Troy and that Christina girl kissing one another were shown on the screen. Looking at Christina, Gabriella could tell why she would be Troy's number top choice. She was very slender, and was wearing a tight-fitting dress that showed off every sharp curve of her body. Of course he would choose the one with a better body. She would help him keep his good image better than some ugly pregnant woman.

"Obviously," the reporter continued, "Gabriella Montez is getting a bit large for him to be seen with. And it must be embarrassing, considering the fact that the baby has already proved not to be his. The paparazzi say the child belongs to Gabriella's agent, Ryan Evans."

Gabriella shut off the TV. She couldn't bear to hear one more word about the topic. Troy had cheated on her. That was all there was to it. And the world thought she was pregnant with Ryan's baby. Where would the stupid paparazzi even get that idiotic idea?

Gabriella punched the pillow she had been sleeping on the previous night, needing to take her anger out on something. She no longer missed Troy. She never wanted to see him again. With tears drenching her face and making her vision blurry, she grabbed her suitcases and began to pack. She had to get out of that room. She couldn't be there when Troy got back because if she was, he wouldn't allow her to leave. And that was something she needed to do.

After loading her clothes and other necessities into her suitcases, Gabriella grabbed her purse, put her cell phone inside of it, and, flipping the light switch that was by the door, left the room, not knowing where she was heading.


	18. Going to Find Her

Troy entered the hotel room, expecting to see Gabriella running up to him and feel her furiously kissing his lips. However, the smile he was wearing on his face faded as he realized his girlfriend was nowhere in sight. Walking further into the room, he noticed that the bathroom door was wide open, and no one was in there. The bed appeared to be freshly made, and the two suitcases that once stood in a corner were missing.

"Gabriella?" Troy called out, even though he was sure the girl he was looking for wasn't around. Throwing his luggage down as quickly as he could, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Gabriella's number. When he received no answer, he tossed the phone onto the bed and took a seat on the sofa that was against the wall. Where could his girlfriend be?

After changing into a comfortable pair of basketball shorts, Troy laid down on the bed and tried to rest his exhausted body. The next day, he played a home game, and needed to be ready for it. However, thoughts of Gabriella occupied his mind and forced him to stay awake. He had no idea what had happened to her, but it sure looked like she had moved out during the time he was gone. She couldn't have found another guy, could she? After all, she was pregnant with _his_ baby.

* * *

Gabriella sat down on the bed in her hotel room. She had moved into a new hotel ten miles from the one was. She hoped he wouldn't find her, although the paparazzi were sure to report where she was staying. At least, though, it was unlikely that Troy would figure out her room number and which floor she was on, so there was a chance she would be safe.

The days spent in that new hotel room were practically useless to Gabriella. All she did was alternate between crying, sleeping, and going through the big production of getting her picture taken and having the paparazzi asking her questions just to get a little something to eat. Being pregnant was sure making her hungry.

* * *

"Hi, Troy! Are you ready for our second date?" Christina asked in an irritating, squealing tone the next night after the Lakers' game.

"Second date? Christina, we never even had a first one."

"Yeah, we did. Remember when there was that dinner after that one game? And we kissed? We sat together there."

Troy thought back to that night. The night when everything had gone wrong.

_"Troy!" Christina giggled-though not in the cute way Gabriella giggled-as she rushed up to Troy and threw her arms around him. "You were so awesome tonight!" _

_"Yeah...uh...thanks," Troy responded, refusing to hug the irritating blonde in return._

_All of a sudden, without any sort of warning, Christina crashed her lips upon Troy's. Troy saw several camera flashes as he struggled to pull away. However, Christina just tried to deepen the kiss by licking Troy's lips, begging for him to part them. Troy refused to, though, causing the persistent young woman to eventually give up._

_"I have to uh...go to the bathroom." Troy rushed away from the cheerleader and ran to the bathroom to rinse his mouth with mouthwash. Even though he hadn't opened his lips, he had a feeling that the drenching saliva from Christina's mouth has made its way into his._

_"Troy!" Christina screamed when she saw Troy emerge from the bathroom._

_Troy pretended he didn't hear anything, instead beginning to head to the next door diner to get dinner with the rest of his team. Unfortunately, the cheerleaders were also invited to the dinner, so Christina trailed after him. Once inside the diner and at the table with his team and the cheerleaders, Christina scurried to the empty chair beside him._

"That was all because of you," Troy reminded the cheerleader.

"But you _wanted _me to kiss you and sit with you," Christina insisted. "I just fulfilled your wishes."

"No, I didn't! I have a girlfriend, and I don't want to be with anyone except her."

"Yeah, a girlfriend who's an idiot. She was with you, but then she was having sex with all these other guys, including her agent. And now she's pregnant with his baby. She can't stay true to one person."

"She is not a idiot! And she's pregnant with _my _baby!"

"She's just saying that to make herself look good."

"No, she's not."

"And how would _you_ know that?" Christina's ice blue eyes blazed with annoyance.

"Because I trust her, and I know I had unprotected sex with her several times."

"You did? But-but you're a good guy! You're not supposed to do that! I can't believe-"

"I love her."

"Really? Well, she's fat."

"She's pregnant, not fat."

"Yeah, pregnant with her agent's baby."

"No she is not! It's my baby and I can prove it!"

"How?"

"We'll get a test done on the baby when it's born to see who the parents are. Then, we'll show the results to everyone who questions that I'm the father," Troy replied.

"Blah, blah, blah. If you were really the father, Gabriella wouldn't have ditched you."

"She didn't ditch me!"

"Then why is the fact that she's staying in a different hotel than you all over the news?" Christina crossed her arms over her chest.

"She'll be back," Troy insisted. "She would never leave me forever. And I think she has a right to be angry with me after that stupid rumor about us dating that I heard this morning."

"It's not a rumor!" Christina protested. "We _are _dating! We kissed! How could you call us a rumor?"

"Maybe because there is no us," Troy answered. "Now, I've gotta go. I'm going to find my Gabriella."

"You don't even know where she is."

"Actually, I do. I saw on the news, right after the lie about us dating, that she's at Paradise Place."

"And how do you know what room she's staying in?"

"I don't. But I'll see her walking around in the halls eventually."

Christina rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't think she'll talk to you even if you do see her. She's one of those stubborn girls that's impossible to get through to. I can just tell by the stories I see and hear about her."

"She is so not like that, Christina."

"You can call me 'babe' if you like," Christina invited, batting her thick, false eyelashes at Troy.

Troy felt as if he could throw up right then and there. "Uh...I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't like you," Troy snapped as he turned around and hurried away from the annoying blonde. He was going to find Gabriella and get her back. He didn't care if he had to sit outside the hotel she was at all night just to wait for her to emerge from it. He didn't care if he ended up missing a basketball game because of his search. He would do whatever it took to speak to his girlfriend and clear everything up.

* * *

**Okay, I updated twice in a day because these two chapters were short. The next one will be full-length, though:)**


	19. Failure

Troy took a seat on one of the chairs that was sitting on the porch of Paradise Place. That would be his spot for the evening. That would be where he sat to watch for Gabriella.

"Troy! Tell us about your new girlfriend!" someone shouted.

Troy groaned as he realized that the paparazzi were running up to him, cameras and notepads-of course-in hand.

"Where's Christina?" one man demanded.

"Why are you here alone?"

"What's your favorite thing about playing for the Lakers?"

"How do you feel about your ex-girlfriend's baby not being yours?"

Troy couldn't take the flashing cameras and irritating men anymore, even though he's only been around them for about thirty seconds. Hurrying inside the hotel, he booked a room, then escaped to it for a little while to wait for the paparazzi to move on to chasing a different celebrity around.

* * *

The next morning, Troy found himself lying on the bed belonging to the hotel room he was in. He was still fully dressed-shoes and everything. After recalling the events of the evening before, he made a guess as to what had happened: he'd fallen asleep while waiting for the paparazzi to leave the area.

_I might as well go get some breakfast,_ Troy decided, getting off the bed and fixing himself up a little. He then hurried out the door, his ocean eyes immediately fixing on the familiar chocolate ones he had been longing to see ever since he had left for his away games.

"Troy? What are you doing here?" Gabriella demanded.

"I'm looking for you," Troy replied.

"Why? To tell me that we're over? I already guessed that. I saw that picture of you and whatever her name is kissing. And I understand why you would rather be with her than an ugly pregnant woman like me." Gabriella started to walk away.

"No! That isn't what I was gonna tell you. Gabriella, it's a lie."

"What is?"

"That I'm dating Christina."

"See? You even know her name. You _are_ dating her. Besides, there were photos, of you two kissing, and photos can't lie."

"Please let me explain to you what happened."

"Why should I? I've gotta get to a doctor's appointment."

"Because I love you."

"You _love_ me? Well, I don't believe it. If you really loved me, you wouldn't have kissed that cheerleader. If you loved me, you wouldn't have gone off and left me alone. If you loved me, you wouldn't have gotten me pregnant."

"But-but I _do_ love you. You've got to believe it."

"I can't. Now I need to go. We're through. I'll get through this pregnancy, put the baby up for adoption, and shut every reminder of you out of my mind. I'll go on with my job and be happy."

"Gabriella! You can't put our baby up for adoption!"

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"And what right do you have to make that decision?"

"I'm the father."

"Well, I don't care. I'm putting this baby up for adoption because I never want to have to see a reminder of your face again! And the baby will resemble you. I'm sure of it."

"What if it looks more like you?"

"Shut. Up, Gabriella commanded through clenched teeth before storming off and refusing to say anything more to her ex-boyfriend.

* * *

When Gabriella returned from the doctor's office, Troy was still standing out in the hall. When she passed him, he grabbed her arm and fairly pushed her through the doorway to his room, rushing in behind her as he did so.

"What are you doing to me?" Gabriella demanded.

"Why were you crying?" Troy asked, noticing the tear stains that were clearly visible on Gabriella's cheeks.

"I was crying because you're a jerk."

"What did I do to you, honey?" Troy questioned softly, cautiously placing an arm around Gabriella's shoulders.

"Y-You c-cheated on me," Gabriella answered, fresh tears flowing down her cheeks. "A-And I-I'll never f-forgive y-you for i-it."

"Sweetheart, I never cheated on you. It was all Christina. She kissed me. She made it appear as if we were dating. She ruined us. You need to believe me, Gabriella. I care about you-and I love you. I would never abandon you; even for all the money and fame in the world."

"I-I just can't believe you, Troy," Gabriella sobbed, burying her face in the palms of her hands.

"And why not?"

"Because if you really loved me, you would've slapped Christina in the face when she went to kiss you. If you loved me, you wouldn't have let her sit next to you at the dinner. But instead, you didn't stop her from kissing you and you didn't deny her permission to sit with you at the Lakers' dinner. I hate you."

"I'm sorry, Gabriella," Troy apologized. "But when Christina kissed me, I was in shock. I didn't really think about what to do. It scared me."

"But she hugged you before she kissed you, didn't she? I saw a video of that moment."

"Yes, she did, but I didn't hug her back."

"Well, you didn't force her off of you, either. If another guy was trying to hug and kiss me, I would be kicking him where it hurts. And hard, too. I would teach him never to mess with me again. But apparently, you didn't want to go that far for me. You obviously don't love me as much as I love you." Gabriella pushed Troy's arm off her shoulders and got up from where she had been sitting. "Good-bye, Troy. I never want to see or talk to you again. I'm going back home."

"But your parents are mad at you for getting pregnant, remember?"

"And why am I pregnant? Because of you. It's all your fault. I'll tell them you raped me."

"I could go to prison if you tell them that! Don't you dare! Besides, we don't need more rumors floating around, do we? You wanted to make love to me. The night of your car accident, we started kissing and you didn't complain when I took your shirt off. In fact, you started to undress me after that. You _wanted_ me to make love to you."

Gabriella sighed. "I guess I did. But I totally regret it all now."

"Well, we can't go back in time and make everything go how you wished it would've gone."

"Maybe not, but I'm getting out of here. I can't stand to be around you. You're a lying idiot." With that, Gabriella hurried to the door and put her hand on the knob.

"You have to understand me, sweetie," Troy said, sounding absolutely desperate.

"I can't. And don't use nicknames with me anymore. I'm officially done with you and your horrible attitude." Gabriella left the room, allowing the door to slam shut behind her.

_Well, I tried,_ Troy told himself. However, he couldn't help feeling that he should've done more to convince Gabriella to get back together with him. Somehow, he felt like he should be running after her at that very moment. But then he reminded himself that Gabriella was pregnant, and therefore very moody. She needed some good, long alone time to cool off a bit.

_Maybe I should just leave this hotel,_ Troy thought. _Maybe I should try in a month or so and see how Gabriella 's attitude is then. But I don't want to wait that long! There has to be some other way to do it!_

* * *

In her hotel room, Gabriella was packing up her things, ready to move to her next location. If Troy wasn't going to leave her alone, then she would play his game the sneaky way. She would keep move to different hotels so often that even the paparazzi wouldn't be able to keep up with her.

_I'll never have to see that jerk again,_ Gabriella told herself with a smile of satisfaction as she left her hotel room and hurried to the lobby to check out. Surprisingly-and thankfully-there were no paparazzi around to irritate her. However, as soon as she stepped outside, she was surrounded.

"Are you back together with Bolton?"

"Did he talk to you?"

"What did you say to him?"

Gabriella ignored each and every one of the nosy questions while fighting her way through the mob that was thickly crowded around her. Once in her rental car, she locked the doors and sped out of the hotel parking lot, happy to see she had gotten a head start on her stalkers.

* * *

_You know what? Maybe I should talk to Gabriella now,_ Troy decided. _After all, who knows when I'll see her again?_ He got up from where he was sitting and walked over to the door. After opening it, he wandered out into the hall and started heading for the lobby. When he got there, he asked at the front desk for Gabriella's room number.

"I'm sorry," the blonde, middle-aged woman that was behind the desk told him after looking up 'Gabriella Montez' on the computer which was at her station, "She checked out not too long ago."

"Okay. Thanks, anyway," Troy mumbled before starting to head back for his room. _Gone?_ _I can't believe she just got up and left. Now I'll probably never be able to talk to her again in my life._


	20. A Not So Merry Christmas

Time had passed until Christmas arrived. Unfortunately, Troy was required to play basketball on that day despite the fact that it was a major holiday.

During the time that had passed, Troy had not seen Gabriella anywhere except on the news. The reporters had said which hotels she was staying in at which times, but Troy didn't bother going to follow her. He had a feeling she would just turn him away like she had done the last time he had gone after her.

As Troy was driving along the roads to the Lakers' stadium, the roads that had become so familiar to him over the past few months, he thought about Gabriella. He thought about all the things that could have happened if she had stayed with him. He worried about both her and the baby she was carrying.

When Troy approached the road near to a creek, he slammed on his breaks, horrified at the sound that had just met his ears. A scream. But not just any scream. _Her_ scream. Quickly hitting the gas pedal, Troy pulled over to the side of the road, parked, then dashed out of his car. Sure enough, sinking down into a hole that had been made in the frozen creek water, was Gabriella.

"I'm coming!" Troy shouted, panting as he grabbed a sturdy stick and held it so that Gabriella, who was hanging onto a piece of ice to prevent her from going totally underneath the frigid liquid that was surrounding her, could try to pull herself up.

Gabriella gave Troy a look of shock.

"Grab the stick!" Troy commanded.

Gabriella listened to Troy. A moment later, she was lying on the frozen, snow-covered grass, shivering violently. Troy, noticing the ice skates that were on her feet, untied them, replacing them with a pair of snow boots he had seen by the ice. He then lifted Gabriella into his arms, the skates dangling from one of his hands.

"W-What a-are y-you d-doing?" Gabriella asked through chattering teeth.

"Taking you to my car," Troy replied, walking in the direction of his vehicle. Upon reaching it, he put Gabriella in the passenger seat, buckled her in, then climbed into the drivers' spot. Putting the heat on full blast, he took off his coat and wrapped it around Gabriella's numbed up body before starting the engine.

"W-Where a-are w-we g-going?"

"To my hotel," Troy answered.

Gabriella was too shaken up to protest. Besides, she figured it would be pointless to do so, anyway, since Troy wouldn't let her go on alone that easily.

* * *

The second the door to Troy's room was shut and locked, Troy began helping Gabriella peel her wet clothes off her body. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart," he apologized, "But I have to do this. I know you don't like me seeing you naked, but I don't think you're able to do this by yourself. You're too shaky. And I don't want you to catch a cold by staying in wet things."

Gabriella whimpered a little bit in protest as Troy took her shirt off.

"I'm sorry," Troy repeated softly.

Once every article of clothing had been removed from her still shivering body, Troy wrapped Gabriella in the comforter that was on his bed and, going into the bathroom, began running hot water in the bathtub.

"Gabby, honey, I'm getting a hot bath ready for you," Troy told Gabriella.

Gabriella nodded very slightly in acknowledgement.

"And I have some hot chocolate I can make, too," Troy continued. "My room-luckily-came with a microwave."

Gabriella didn't respond.

Troy picked Gabriella up off the bed and carried her into the bathroom, where he turned the running water off. "Are you okay?" he asked gently while struggling not to kiss Gabriella's cheek. He really didn't want to make her more upset than she already was.

Gabriella nodded.

Troy, however, could still feel furious shivers rippling through Gabriella's body and hear the sound of her teeth chattering. She obviously was not okay. "Sweetheart, you're gonna need to unwrap yourself from that blanket now so you can go in the tub."

Gabriella shook her head.

"Honey, listen to me. I want you to get warmed up. And right now, you're shocked because of what happened earlier, you're freezing cold, and you're numb. You can't really do things on your own now. Let me help you."

Gabriella shook her head again.

"Gabby, please."

Gabriella began to struggle to get down from his arms.

Troy placed Gabriella on the ground and then said, "Come on; let me at least help you get in the tub and then I'll leave. I don't want you to fall stepping over the edge."

Gabriella shook her head as tears began falling down her face.

"Sweetheart, you need help. You're shocked and you're numb. You might have frostbite. Now please." Troy felt horrible forcing Gabriella to do something she was uncomfortable with, but it had to be done in order for her to get better.

Gabriella shook her head yet again.

Troy took his fingers and wiped the tears that were still streaming down her face away before taking the edge of the blanket and slowly trying to pry it away from her.

Gabriella sat down on the bathroom floor, unable to stand any longer due to exhaustion and shock.

"This is why you need help. Please, Gabriella. I'm not gonna try to make love to you or anything."

After several more tears and a little more coaxing, Gabriella finally let Troy unwrap her and place her in the hot water.

* * *

When an hour and a half had gone by and Gabriella still hadn't come out of the bathroom, Troy knocked on the door. He received no response, so he slowly opened it. Gabriella was fast asleep.

Grabbing a towel, Troy picked up Gabriella very carefully so as not to wake her, dried her as best as he could, then wrapped her back up in the blanket she had been wrapped in before. When he had done all that, he carried her out of the bathroom and laid her on the bed.

"What's going on?" Gabriella mumbled as her eyes opened part way.

"You fell asleep," Troy replied softly, brushing a strand of Gabriella's hair off her face. "Now keep resting. You need it."

"I can't rest, Troy," Gabriella protested.

"Why not?"

"Because I need to go. This is your room. I don't belong here. Now give me my clothes so I can get dressed and leave this place."

"Honey, your clothes were soaking wet. I put them in one of the driers that's in the laundry room downstairs."

"Well, go see if they're done drying so I can get out of here."

"Are you that angry with me?"

"Yes. I can't believe you! I would've been perfectly fine if you would've just left me alone!"

"You mean at the creek?"

Gabriella nodded.

"If I wouldn't have helped you, you would've drowned."

"And maybe that would've been good. Then I wouldn't have to worry about you ever again. I still hate you."

"Why?"

"Okay, first of all, you get me pregnant. Secondly, you abandon me for some dimwitted cheerleader. Then, you keep bugging me to get back together with you. And just today, you were treating me like I was helpless. You acted like you had to assist me with every little thing."

"That's because you were still recovering from the shock of falling through the ice."

"Just go get my things out of the drier, so I can get dressed. And when I get dressed, I'm doing it in private. You are not looking at me anymore than you already did today, you idiot."

"I'm sorry," Troy apologized. "But I needed to help you. And besides, I've seen you before."

"Yeah, but we were together then, Troy! You can't just go randomly looking at me whenever you feel like it! Now go get me my clothes."

"Fine." Troy left the room, returning five minutes later with Gabriella's things in his hands. Handing them to her, he said, "Here you go."

Gabriella went into the bathroom, being sure to lock the door, got dressed, then walked back out and put on her boots and coat. "I need my skates."

"They're next to the bed."

After grabbing her ice skates, Gabriella headed for the door.

"Uh, Gabby?" Troy began.

"What?" Gabriella snapped.

"How are you gonna get your car? It's at the creek still."

Gabriella groaned. "I guess you'll have to drive me there. Let's go now."

"No."

"What do you mean 'no?' I've had enough with you. Now take me to get my car right this second."

"Not until after we talk."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Fine. We can talk." She went over to Troy's bed and sat on it.

Troy took a seat beside Gabriella. "Why are you so mad at me?"

"Oh, I don't know," Gabriella replied sarcastically. "Maybe because you cheated on me and then decided to 'help' me recover from the shock of slipping through the ice."

"First of all, I didn't cheat on you. And secondly, what do you mean by 'help?'"

"Troy, you didn't need to undress me. I could've done it myself. You're just a creepy idiot. You know I'm uncomfortable with how I look pregnant, and yet you don't care. All you wanted was sex."

"No, I didn't! I was really trying to help you!"

"You were being a jerk about it, though!"

"How?"

"You weren't being very considerate of my modesty!"

"But you needed help. Just be glad it was me and not a strange man who saw you."

"You are a stranger. I don't know you anymore."

"I'm the same guy I was before! Why don't you see that?"

"Because you're a cheater!"

"I didn't cheat on you!"

"You did so!" Gabriella took her hand and slapped Troy's cheek. "I hate you, I hate you, and I hate you! Now get me to my car."

"No."

"Stop refusing! I'll walk if you don't take me."

"Fine. Go walk and get mobbed by paparazzi."

"I can't do that," Gabriella sighed.

"Then stay here with me. Lie down. It's almost midnight. Get some rest."

"With _you_ here? I don't think so."

"But you need to keep your strength up. Come on; take off your coat and shoes, get under the covers, and sleep. I'll sleep on that couch over there." Troy indicated the mentioned object with one of his hands.

Gabriella groaned.

"Come on."

Gabriella, after a moment of hesitation, removed her coat and boots and laid down in bed. "Off," she demanded when Troy didn't get up from his seat on the edge of the mattress.

Troy slid off the bed and went over to the sofa. "Good night," he said.

Gabriella didn't say anything in reply. She just gave Troy a look of hatred before turning out the lamp beside her and closing her eyes. She couldn't believe what had happened that night. Her ex-boyfriend had saved her for the second time. From the same creek he had saved her from before. Why was he always there at the times she needed to be rescued? _Probably just to irritate me,_ she guessed.

"Gabriella?" Troy started hesitantly.

"What do you want now?"

"I just wanted to say that I love you."

"Whatever," Gabriella mumbled. "Now be quiet and let me sleep so that I can get out of here."


	21. A Sad Day

The next morning, Gabriella woke up to find herself in Troy's arms. _What happened?_ she asked herself. Then, it all came back to her. Her accident, Troy saving her and bringing her back to his hotel room, and her rejecting him. But why was he holding her?

"Gabriella, you awake?" Troy questioned with a yawn.

Gabriella nodded. "Yes. And why are you in bed with me? I thought I didn't want you here."

"You were whimpering in your sleep and calling my name. It woke me up. I decided to come over here with you, and as soon as I was holding you, you calmed down," Troy replied.

Gabriella blushed. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"It's okay."

"And I'm also sorry for how I acted yesterday. After all, you were just trying to help me out. I shouldn't have went all crazy on you."

"I forgive you."

"I guess I was just angry because I thought you ditched me for a cheerleader. But last night, as I was falling asleep, I thought it over and figured that you were telling me the truth about what happened. I was actually the one who ditched you. I feel horrible."

"Well, don't. It's alright. Everything's cleared up now, and that's all that matters."

"I love you."

"I love you, too." Troy leaned in to kiss Gabriella, who readily accepted the offer.

"I really frustrated you yesterday, didn't I?"

"Not too badly. It just mostly broke my heart that I had to do things you were uncomfortable with, especially when you began crying. I hate seeing you cry." Troy brushed a piece of Gabriella's hair out of her face.

"You were just trying to help. And again, I shouldn't have acted the way I did. I'm very grateful that you were the one who had to see my body and not some random person."

"Well, just so you know, I tried as best as I could not to look at...you know...your private areas."

Gabriella's cheeks turned a deep red. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

"I can't say I didn't see anything at all, though, but I just wanted to tell you that I wasn't looking at your body on purpose."

"Thank you."

Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead and squeezed her hand before sliding off the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"To get ready."

"Oh! I just remembered that I have a doctor's appointment today at eleven."

"Well, it's nine-thirty now. You'd better start getting ready so we can go."

"You're coming, too?"

"Of course I am. I don't know how many appointments I've missed, but I really don't want to miss any more. Unless you don't want me to go, then I won't. But..."

"I want you with me. I've missed having you by my side at the doctor's."

"Okay. Well then I'll go."

* * *

Gabriella lay on the ultra sound table at the gynecologist's office, Troy by her side holding her hand.

"Troy and Gabriella," Dr. Greene began, "I have some news for the both of you."

"Is it good or bad?" Gabriella asked, her muscles immediately tensing up.

"I'm afraid it's bad."

Troy instinctively pulled Gabriella's body close to his, stroking her hair to calm her for the coming news.

"Your baby...well...your baby isn't doing well at all," Dr. Greene announced quietly. "I'm sorry."

Troy and Gabriella both felt hot tears rise into their eyes.

"I'll leave you two alone," the doctor decided, exiting the room.

"I-I c-can't b-believe t-this," Gabriella sobbed, clinging to Troy. "T-This i-is a-all m-my f-fault. I-If o-only...i-if o-only..." She trailed off, her throat becoming too choked with sadness to continue.

Troy placed his hand on Gabriella's stomach and rubbed it gently. "P-Please g-get w-well, little o-one."

"I-I n-never m-meant a-anything bad I-I s-said a-about h-him o-or her."

"I k-know," Troy responded, rubbing his girlfriend's back gently. "I know."

"I-I w-want e-everything t-to b-be o-okay."

"I-I want i-it to, a-also."

Suddenly, Gabriella gripped her stomach with her hand.

"What's the matter?" Troy's heart began pounding inside his chest.

Gabriella screamed.

"What's going on?"

Gabriella still didn't reply.

"Gabriella? Say something! Let me know you're okay!"

"I-I think I'm going into labor!"

"But it's too early!"

"I-I know! But I have to be! It hurts so bad!"

"Okay, come on; let's get the doctor." Lifting Gabriella into his arms, Troy carried her out of the room, where he found Dr. Greene leaning against the wall and looking at some papers that were attached to a clipboard. "She's in labor," he announced.

"Already? Oh my gosh. Let's go. We have to go to the hospital. I need to be there when she gives birth, so we'll take my car." The doctor put down her clipboard and called out, "I won't be in this office for the rest of the day!" She then briskly walked toward the front door of the building, Troy and Gabriella following closely behind.

* * *

Gabriella was lying in a hospital bed, Troy sitting beside her, tightly gripping her small hand, and both the doctor and nurse at her feet, waiting for the baby to start coming out.

"It's coming," Dr. Greene started, "So you'll need to start pushing now."

Gabriella pushed with as much force as she had in her petite body.

"You're doing great, honey," Troy encouraged when a scream emitted from Gabriella's mouth. "Just keep going."

"Almost there," the doctor reported.

Gabriella continued pushing. By this point, sweat was collecting on her forehead and her muscles ached from all the effort she was contributing to give birth to the sickly person inside of her.

"You're done," Dr. Greene said. She then picked up the silent baby while the nurse checked for a heartbeat. "It's a girl, just so you two know."

Troy and Gabriella exchanged sad smiles.

"I can't find anything," the nurse announced after a moment.

"Alright." Dr. Greene sighed sadly. "I'm so sorry. She's dead."

Gabriella burst into tears. "I-I-I want t-to h-hold h-her."

The nurse wrapped the lifeless body in a pink blanket, then handed the bundle to Gabriella. "Here you go."

Gabriella kissed her daughter's forehead, cradling her close. "M-Mommy l-loves y-you," she whispered hoarsely.

"C-Can I see her?" Troy requested, wiping a tear from his eye.

Gabriella handed the baby to her father.

"Daddy w-will miss y-you." He kissed her face. After a pause, he asked, "H-Honey, what w-will we n-name her? Even t-though she's n-not alive, I-I still t-think she deserves a-a name."

"Y-You choose."

"H-How about Melody Faith Bolton. M-Melody because y-you can sing, and F-Faith because we h-have faith in our r-relationship, even though i-it's very d-difficult."

"I-I l-love it." Gabriella managed to smile a weak smile.

"Come here." Troy handed the baby back to the nurse and held out his arms for Gabriella to climb into.

Gabriella flung herself at Troy, sobbing and clutching him as if she would lose him just as she had lost her daughter. "T-This i-is a-all m-my f-fault. I-I s-shouldn't h-have w-went i-ice s-skating. M-My f-fall d-damaged t-the b-baby. I-I know i-it. I-I'll n-never f-forgive m-myself."

"It's n-not your fault," Troy comforted. "It's not y-your f-fault."

"I-I'm a-a h-horrible p-person."

"N-No you a-aren't. Y-You're wonderful."

Gabriella didn't respond. Instead, she just continued sobbing, her face buried in Troy's chest and her arms still grasping him tightly. She didn't know how she would ever get over what had just happened.


	22. The Next Step?

**Before I start this chapter, I just want to say that hsm4ever54, one of the people who reads my stories, can't update her story **_**Living with Troy and Gabriella**_** because Microsoft Word isn't working on her computer.**

* * *

Troy and Gabriella awoke the next morning to find themselves wrapped in one another's arms, both of their faces covered in dried tears and dried sweat. The tears were because of the daughter they had lost, and the sweat was from making love the previous night.

"I miss our baby," Gabriella sniffled.

"So do I. I can't believe she...she...you know...I mean, it all happened in a flash. The doctor said she wasn't doing well, then you went into labor early and gave birth to a premature, stillborn girl. It was heartbreaking," Troy said.

"I know." Gabriella wiped a tear from her eye.

"I'm gonna call my coach and explain to him why I missed the last two basketball games and let him know I'm gonna be out for a while." Troy reached over to the end table beside the bed and grabbed his cell phone off of it, still keeping one of his arms wrapped around his girlfriend's waist.

"Alright."

By the time Troy was finished on the phone, he wore a dejected look on his face.

"What happened?"

"He said I have to either be available to play next week or stay out for the rest of the season."

"What are you going to do?"

Troy shrugged. "I don't know. What do you want me to do?" Troy lovingly stroked Gabriella's hair.

"If you go play, I'll come with you. But if you want to stay, then I'll stay with you. I'm not planning to go back to singing anytime soon."

"Maybe I will play. It might help distract me from what happened a little."

"Maybe I should sing, too. Though not right now. I want to be close to you for the time being."

"Yeah, I think we should stay together for a little while."

Gabriella kissed Troy's cheek. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Troy pulled Gabriella on top of him and kissed her forehead. "My beautiful girl."

"I'm not that beautiful."

"Yes, you are. You're the most beautiful girl in the world."

Gabriella's cheeks turned a deep red, causing her to bury her face in Troy's chest.

"And you're cute, too," Troy added.

"Stop embarrassing me."

"How is this embarrassing?"

"Your compliments make me blush."

"Aw, you're sweet."

* * *

Later that day, Gabriella's cell phone rang. Looking at the screen, she saw it was someone in her family who was calling, so she picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hi."

Gabriella recognized her mother's voice. "Why are you calling, Mom?"

"I heard about your baby on the news. And though I disapproved of you being pregnant, I'm very sorry that had to happen. And I wish I would've been there at the hospital to see my granddaughter, even if she wasn't alive."

Tears sprung to Gabriella's eyes at the reminder of what had occurred the day before. "T-Thank you."

"I also wanted to let you know that your father and I talked things over and we decided that if you and Troy want to, you can come stay at home again. We're no longer upset with you."

"Thanks, Mom. I'll tell Troy that."

"Okay. Well, I'll let you go, then. You can call me and let me know when you'll be coming. Bye."

"Bye." Gabriella hung up her phone, then turned her gaze toward Troy, who was sitting on the bed. "My mom said that she and my dad are both no longer angry with me, and that if we want, we can stay at my place."

"Really? That's great news! Though what about the Lakers? I mean, the stadium's way closer to this hotel than to your house."

"True," Gabriella responded in a thoughtful tone.

"Though I don't want to pay for this room any longer."

"Yeah, neither do I. It's getting pricey."

"Let me call my parents and see if they can't let us live there again. We can go to your place this summer when I have off, then."

"That sounds like a good idea."

Troy grabbed his cell phone and dialed the number to his house.

"Hello?" Lucille answered the phone.

"Hey, Mom, it's Troy."

"Yes?" Lucille's voice didn't sound very welcoming at all. In fact, it sounded quite the opposite of it.

"Gabriella and I are having trouble living in this hotel. And if you haven't heard yet, Gabriella went into labor yesterday and our daughter was stillborn. We could really use a real place to live for a little while, just until I can afford an apartment."

"Well, I don't think you'll be staying here after what you did, Troy. That was very wrong. And look what the consequences were? You ended up with a broken heart."

"I can't say that I think what I did was wrong without lying. But I just want you to please understand."

"You will not stay here."

"We'll pay a little money each month and-"

"No." With that firm reply, Lucille hung up.

Troy sighed as he put his phone down. "She said we couldn't."

"She and your father still are mad at you for getting me..." Gabriella couldn't even bring herself to say the word 'pregnant.' Not after that horrible experience.

Troy nodded. "Yeah."

Gabriella sighed. "Well then, I guess we're stuck in here until we can get an apartment."

"I guess so."

Troy pulled Gabriella close to him and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry I can't give you anything better. I'm a horrible boyfriend."

"It's okay, Troy. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be together, even if it means living in a hotel for a while. As long as I get to be with you, I don't care where I have to stay."

"But I still think you deserve better."

"Troy, I just wanna be with you."

Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek. "I love you."

"I love you, too. And now, I have a new idea for a song. Do you have any paper?"

Troy nodded and, going over to his luggage, grabbed a notebook that had notes on basketball in it. He ripped a page from it, then handed it to his girlfriend. "We've gotta get your things from your hotel sometime."

"Yeah. I'm getting tired of wearing this same outfit." She giggled.

"How about we go after dinner?"

"Sure, sounds good." With that, Gabriella began writing the lyrics to her song.

"And what do you say to going on a date tomorrow night? We haven't done that in a while."

"I'd be happy to," Gabriella smiled, briefly looking up from her work.

"Great." Troy kissed Gabriella's soft lips before embracing her.

Gabriella returned Troy's hug.

"What's your song about?"

"Us just wanting to be together." Gabriella blushed a little.

"Aw, really? You know, I'm more than lucky to have you as my girlfriend. You're the sweetest, kindest, most caring girl I've ever met in my entire life." Troy touched his lips to Gabriella's forehead.

Gabriella blushed as a small giggle escaped from between her lips. "Thank you. And you're handsome, loving, and very understanding."

"Those words mean so much to me, sweetheart."

"Troy?" Gabriella began after a silence.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think your parents will ever accept you again?"

Troy shrugged. "I don't no. I sort of hope so, though. When the time for us to have another baby comes-after our marriage of course-I want my child to have kind grandparents."

"Troy, I don't think I want another baby," Gabriella responded hurriedly. "Not for at least ten years yet. It'll take me forever to recover from this incident."

"Oh, honey, we don't _need_ to have a baby. I shouldn't have said that. But I am serious about us marrying." Troy suddenly pulled a small velvet box from his pocket and knelt down on one knee in front of Gabriella.

"Oh, Troy..." Happy tears filled Gabriella's eyes.

"Gabriella Montez, will you marry me?"


	23. I Do

"Yes!" Gabriella screamed in delight, flinging her arms about Troy's neck.

"Yes? Oh, thank you so much!" When Gabriella, after a long while, finally let go of Troy, he slid the ring onto her left ring finger and began furiously kissing her. "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!"

"I love you, too!" Gabriella returned.

"This is the best thing that has ever happened to me," Troy commented as he slowly pulled away from Gabriella and stared directly into her eyes, linking his fingers with hers.

"Same here," Gabriella said, a smile with a slightly shy appearance spreading across her lit up face.

"So, when do you want to get married?"

"As soon as possible." Gabriella answered with no hesitation.

"Did you want to invite your family?"

Gabriella nodded. "Definitely. Though I'm not too sure about Jenna. She's been so horrible to me ever since I was born. Though I suppose if I invite me parents, I'll need to invite her." She let out a heavy sigh.

"Yeah. I guess you probably will." Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead in a sympathetic way. "So, anyway, do you want to skip bridesmaids and all that? Because Chad's my only friend and I'm your only friend, so I don't think it would quite work out." Troy began gently rubbing Gabriella's arms.

"Sure. We can skip all that."

"Alright. And the guests we have will just be our parents and maybe your sister?"

"Will your parents even go?"

Troy shrugged. "I don't know. I hope they would."

"I guess we'll just need to wait and see."

* * *

Four months later, Troy and Gabriella stepped out of Troy's car, which was parked in the parking lot of a lovely park. As usual, paparazzi surrounded them, taking photos of Gabriella in her simple yet elegant wedding gown and Troy in his crisp, clean tuxedo. However, Troy and Gabriella kept smiles on their faces through the entire process because they knew it was the end. The end of people thinking they were cheaters. The end of all the violent rumors. Their marriage was the truth, and it would prove to the world that they really did love one another.

"Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!" Gabriella waved as she noticed her parents, along with Jenna, heading into the soft green grass of the park. Pulling Troy along with her, she ran to meet them.

"Hi, Gabriella!" Maria and David both greeted, embracing their youngest daughter.

"Gabriella," Jenna began when her parents were finished hugging Gabriella, "I want to tell you something."

"Yes?" Gabriella acknowledged.

"I'm sorry," Jenna replied quietly.

"Sorry for what?" Gabriella inquired.

"Everything. I'm truly happy for you. I'm happy that you found someone to be with forever. And the reason I was mean to you all those years was because I was jealous. I understand if you don't want to forgive me, but I just wanted to apologize."

Gabriella took a deep breath as she took in what her sister had just said. "I forgive you," she decided while throwing her arms around her sister.

"Thank you so much, Gabriella." Jenna smiled.

"It's really no problem." Gabriella let go of Jenna and turned toward Troy, a smile on her face and a bright gleam in her eye.

"Are you ready?" Troy wondered.

Gabriella nodded. "Yes, I'm ready."

Troy led Gabriella to the open area of the park where the wedding was to be held.

"Are you ready?" someone asked.

Troy and Gabriella both spun around to see a middle aged man in a suit and tie. They assumed he was the one who was going to wed them. "Yes, we're ready."

"Well, then, let's get started."

"Wait!" a voice screamed.

Troy and Gabriella looked behind them to see both of Troy's parents running in their direction. They exchanged delighted looks.

"Mom! Dad! You came!" Troy exclaimed.

"Of course we did," Lucille responded, sounding very much out of breath. "Do you really think we would allow our son to be married without us watching?"

"I-I thought you were angry with me, though."

"We were. But we've discussed the topic a countless number of times and finally decided that, as your parents, we shouldn't hold anything against you," Jack explained.

"Thank you. Both of you," Troy smiled. After his parents hugged him, he went back over to Gabriella.

"Okay. Can we start now?" the man who was going to marry Troy and Gabriella asked.

Troy and Gabriella both nodded.

"Alright. Well then, do you, Troy Bolton, take Gabriella Montez to be your wife to love, cherish, and care for in sickness and in health as long as you live?"

"I do," Troy replied confidently.

"And do you, Gabriella Montez, take Troy Bolton to be your husband to love, cherish, and care for in sickness and in health as long as you live?"

"I do," Gabriella responded clearly.

"Well, then, I now pronounce you..."

Troy and Gabriella didn't even wait for the rest. As soon as they exchanged their rings, they connected their lips with each other's in a passionate kiss. After all they had been through, it all came down to pure happiness. Every single event that had happened to them was purposeful because they had all helped them grow closer to one another. And they were more than ready to share a life together.

As Troy and Gabriella pulled away from one another to hear their family clapping for them, the same thought crossed both of their minds. They had really proved their love for one another from the beginning. From the second they met on that airplane, they had worked hard to keep their relationship in one piece. Though it had fallen apart a couple times, they had given it more chances, even when it seemed nearly impossible to do so. They had done whatever it had taken to be together.

* * *

**Well, that's the end of this story. I know, like with all my other fics, it was probably a crappy ending since I can't write endings. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story and thank you so much for all the reviews and adding this to story alert and your favorites. While I finish up redoing Tornados of the Heart I will have another fic out that I'm working on right now. I'm really trying to improve my writing in it, so I hope you'll give it a try:) It should be out soon.**


	24. AN

**Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I'm starting fresh on a new profile. I'll still be writing Troyella, so go check me out at ~zefronsangel. I'll be posting the updated version of my story ****_Win Some, Lose Some_**** soon.**

**ZefronsAngel**


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